From our activities

31.08.2021 - As a culmination of their project period, the FucoSan partners have produced a video about their work. It presents the processing of algae and the research methods. Atmospheric images show the great treasure that lies on our doorstep - in the Baltic Sea. A special focus is set on the German-Danish cooperation. Among other things, an online meeting of the German and Danish partners was shown - a personal meeting could not take place due to the Corona virus.

Click here for the video.

29.07.2021 – On the 27th of July, the "Visite" programme once again reported on the potential of fucoidans and the research activities in Kiel. In the feature "Eye disease: Medicines from algae?", the FucoSan project partners explain, among other things, how the fucoidans can help for age-related macular degeneration, a widespread eye disease.
to the report (in German)

09.07.2021 - The project partners are pleased to invite all stakeholders to their upcoming Danish workshop “Opportunities with seaweed in low salinity waters of the Baltic Sea” that takes place online on 18 August from 9:00 to 13:00 CET. In the event, SUBMARINER Network brings together two trans-national projects, “FucoSan” and “Baltic GRASS”, where they jointly set the scene and invite key Danish speakers from public and private organisations, with the aim to shed light to arising opportunities offered by Baltic seaweed production and use and what are the next research and innovation steps needed to bring Danish Baltic seaweed to the next level.
The language of the event will be a mixture of Danish and English.

Here you can find further information.

01.07.2021 – Congratulations on the successful defence of your doctoral thesis! What was the topic?  
The title of my dissertation is "Extraction and structural characterization of fucoidans from brown algae" and includes the following topics:

1. extraction and purification of fucoidans from different brown algae and the degradation of native fucoidans.
2. application of size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) with multiple detection for the determination of molecular masses, size and their distribution as well as the conformation and branching of fucoidans.
3. Structural modification of the fucoidans after their degradation.
4. Detailed structural characterisation of fucoidans from Fucus evanescens, Saccharina latissima and Laminaria digitata.

What was your task in the FucoSan project?
The extraction, IEC purification and structural characterisation of the fucoidans was my main task in the FucoSan project. We have shown that the native fucoidans exhibit considerable structural diversity, including large differences in their MW distributions and heterogeneous composition. I also built the German-Danish database with different fucoidan extracts and their characterisations.

How did the German-Danish cooperation help you with your dissertation?  
The German-Danish cooperation has helped me a lot with my dissertation. We have delivered many native and degraded fucoidans to UKSH, on which we have been able to publish interesting papers. I had the chance to learn whether such sulphated polysaccharides are biologically usable and what possible applications they have. From Danish partners we were able to learn how the extraction or purification methods influence the fucoidan properties. Without the FucoSan project, it would not have been possible for me to work on such an interesting topic. I really enjoyed developing the database for the fucoidans with chemical and biological data.

In your opinion, which topic would be suitable for another project?  
In my opinion, the standardisation of fucoidan extraction and purification is important for sustainability and data comparison. Furthermore, I consider the application of the depolymerised fucoidans in the biological models for the medical application of such fucoidans essential, as the native fucoidans are mostly too large for biopharmaceutical application. Furthermore, the complete structural characterisation of different fucoidans would be crucial for the establishment of the structure-activity mechanism.

10.06.2021 – The FucoSan Network is now officially part of the SUBMARINER Macroalgae Working Group. The working group will launch with an online kick-off event on 15 June 2021. Participation in the event is free, registration is required. To the registration
The SUBMARINER Network is a platform that brings actors from the whole Baltic Sea Region together to actively promote innovative and sustainable uses of marine resources.

28.05.2021 – On 9 June, Professor Alexa Klettner will present FucoSan at an online event of SEA-EU Blue Talks. The project coordinator of the German-Danish Interreg project will talk about research activities on fucoidans and present the network, which is also exploring the commercial potential of the marine compound. Participation in the event is free, registration is required.
SEA-EU, the “European University of the Seas”, is an association of six universities and is funded by the Erasmus programme. To the registration

25.05.2021 – Julia Ohmes received a poster prize at the BioMAT 2021, which was awarded by a prominent jury of experts. The PhD candidate in the Department of Trauma Surgery, Experimental Trauma Surgery Group at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein took first place with her work on “A Thermosensitive Chitosan-Collagen Hydrogel for Encapsulation of Marine Polysaccharide Fucoidan and Adult Stem Cells for Bone Tissue Engineering”. This is to place fucoidans where they are effective.

20.05.2021 – On 11 May the third meeting of the FucoSan network took place. The topic of the 90-minute online meeting was political lobbying for scientific projects. Anders Lysholm Jacobsen from the Development Council of Southern Denmark gave a lecture on successful networking. In particular, Anders talked about interesting contacts in Danish regional politics and the right way to address the network’s topics there. – Helpful hints for the parliamentary meetings with German and Danish decision makers that the FucoSan network is planning for the upcoming months!

12.05.2021 – In ophthalmology, there is a growing interest in marine resources. Our project coordinator Prof. Alexa Klettner co-edited a review study which identified over 100 studies that investigated marine resources in connection with retinal diseases. ‘The potential of marine resources for retinal diseases: a systematic review of the molecular mechanisms’ has now been published in the renowned scientific journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition by Taylor & Francis

To the article

19.03.2021 - On 17 March, the FucoSan partners had invited to a project development workshop. They wanted to know: What funding programmes are available for our blue bioeconomy projects? Anette Benz and Eleonoora Väänänen from the Enterprise Europe Network of the Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein presented the diverse funding landscape. And what factors determine the success or failure of projects? René Windus from the management consultancy Decisio vividly explained that it is primarily soft factors such as communication, motivation, participation of the project partners. The findings from both presentations will be incorporated into the partners' further activities. 

28.02.2021 – At the meeting of the project partners on 26 February, the focus was on developing innovative cooperation ideas: What are the partners’ interests? Who can contribute which competences to the network? In order to test the ideas for their chances of success, the partners put their main idea into a few sentences and answered questions about potential supporters or funding opportunities. All the ideas for which a development team can be assembled will be pursued. The meeting generated five ideas that will be followed up. Support is provided through a facilitated process and various project events.
The FucoSan network aims to advance application-oriented research and product development that focuses on the application of fucoidans.

15.02.2021 – On 2nd March 2021 this year’s BaMS Symposium themed “Progress in the blue-bio-economy in northern Germany” will take place. There will be various lectures via Zoom as well as exhibition booths through the platform Gather.Town. The partners of the FucoSan-network will inform about their latest network activities. In Gather.Town participants are able to move in virtual rooms with Avatars and have conversations with participants who are in the same virtual room. BaMS is the innovation space „bio-economy on maritime locations“ of the Kiel University. To the conference page

08.02.2021 - Congratulations on your successful defence of your doctoral thesis! What was the topic?  
The title of my thesis is “Extraction, Structural Determination and Bioactivity Assessment of Fucoidan from Brown Algae” and it covers 3 topics, 

1. Extraction and the influence of season, harvest location and species on the sulfation of fucoidans
2. How spectroscopic techniques can be used to rapidly assess fucoidan purity and certain structural features 
3. How data science can be used to understand the link between chemical data and bioactivity

What was your task in the FucoSan project? 
The effects of seasonality and harvest location was one of the central topics to be investigated within the FucoSan project, and my work showed that these effects must be considered when we investigate bioactivity of fucoidans. One of my tasks was also to both provide extracts to our partners but also to characterize them. Since I had so many extracts, I realised that I needed to reconsider how I would analyse them, which is why I came up with the methods described in the section on structural determination in my thesis. Furthermore, I also contributed data to the database, and I released how much interesting work and data it contained. This was why I decided to use specialised data science techniques to gain more insight into our data within the project.   

How did the German-Danish cooperation help you with your thesis? 
This cooperation for sure contributed to my thesis! Firstly, having CRM and their expertise on algae harvesting standardised my samples, which is necessary for accurate data analysis. Furthermore, knowing the end-use of my extracts (ophthalmology and tissue engineering) made me think about how the fucoidan would behave in the body, so I decided to investigate how the fucoidans would behave in an environment with the same salt concentration as in the human body. I don’t think that I would have carried out this experiment if not for the FucoSan project! Lastly, the FucoSan database proved very valuable for my data science work. In fact, my most recent paper accepted for publication was about using the FucoSan database to unravel the relationship between chemical data and bioactivity.        

Which topic would be suitable for another project from your point of view?
From my perspective, I would want to focus on how to standardise a fucoidan extraction procedure and how to use data mining to better understand why some fucoidans are suited for tissue engineering while others are better for ophthalmology or cosmetics.

28.01. - HealthSea intends to start research and development for the use of Macroalgae for health promoting purposes. The involved partners consider the use in food(supplements), feed and beauty products very promising. Research institutes and businesses cooperate to build up a value chain to process the macroalgae. They plan to establish a (German) ZIM-network which will be grant aided by the Federal Ministry of Economics. The ZIM-network (Central Innovation Programm for the Middle Class) aims to strengthen the innovative power of small and medium-sized businesses.
Read more in German

7.12.2020 - The first meeting of the FucoSan network took place on December 4th with eleven participants. The three-hour meeting was about creating a common understanding of the network, planning the next steps and discussing ideas for research projects. These ranged from the further characterisation of fucoidans to their use in eye disease treatment and tissue regeneration. The first project sketches shall be handed in during January. At the end of the meeting all participants were very satisfied, having laid the foundation for a successful network project.

20.11.2020 – Two partners from the FucoSan project (2017-2020) have been able to achieve another scientific publication on fucoidans in the journal Marine Drugs. "Functional Characterization of a New GH107 Endo-α-(1,4)-Fucoidanase from the Marine Bacterium Formosa haliotis" – is the headline. Their result: By depolymerising the fucoidan backbone, it is possible to produce homogenous, defined Fucoidan products for structural and functional research as well as pharmaceutical applications. To the article

01.09.2020 – On 31 August 2020 the last project meeting of the FucoSan partners took place. At the workshop in Schleswig the joint work of the past years was evaluated. The unanimous opinion was that the cooperation went particularly well. The exchange between the international working groups and  the interdisciplinary exchange  has been very productive for everyone involved. "Only together we were able to achieve such great results," says project partner Levent Piker. Another finding of the partners: In  future, the commercial use of the research results should become even more important. For this pupose, a follow-up project is already being planned.

31.08.2020 – All activities and results are represented in the following project publications:

• Result Report [Overview, English]
• Scientific publications [Overview, Englisch]

27.08.2020 - The final conference took place on 25 and 26 August 2020 with more than 120 participants. Findings from basic research and possible biomedical applications were presented by experts; first product developments with fucoidans were introduced. All abstracts of the speakers can now be found online.

21.08.2020 – In the FucoSan project, algae were examined for possible applications in medicine and cosmetics. Moreover, algae can also be very tasty. Project partner Rafael Meichßner from oceanBasis shows how he prepares spaghetti carbonara in a video and replaces the bacon with the red algae Dulse.
Click here for the cooking video.

12.08.2020 – At the end of the project Alexa Klettner, project coordinator of FucoSan, talks about her personal highlights, findings and takes a look into the future. To the interview

01.08.2020 – In the podcast presented by natural cosmetics company Oceanwell, marine biologists and project partners Dr Levent Piker and Rafael Meichßner chat about Fucoidans  and the application opportunities of this particular algae sugar.
Link to podcast

(Icon made by www.freepik.com from www.flaticon.com)

21.07.2020 - Two excellent keynote speakers will join the final conference of FucoSan: Nathalie Bourgougnon, Director of Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology and Chemistry at the University of South Brittany and Trond Helgerud, Seaweed R&D Manager, Dupont Nutrition & Bioscience at DuPont, Norway.
On August 25th, Nathalie Bourgougnon will open the conference with the presentation "Conventional and sustainable bioprocesses for the extraction of antiherpetic oligo- and polysaccharides from the red seaweeds". The French scientist is an expert in the extraction, purification and characterisation of marine resources. On the second day, Trond Helgerud starts off with "DuPont Nutrition and Health". DuPont is one of the world's largest companies in the chemical industry. The section Nutrition & Biosciences focuses on innovative and sustainable solutions for the food, health, pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

20.07.2020 - A total of 20 abstracts was submitted to the ABC Conference. The geographical scope is enormous: First authors come from Finland, France, Indonesia, Denmark and Germany. Scientists from Austria, Russia and Vietnam are involved as co-authors.

“We are very pleased with the extremely positive response to our Call for Papers showing that our German-Danish collaboration work is even recognised far beyond the cross-border region. This makes the conference even more interesting and enables us to network with even more international experts,” project coordinator Alexa Klettner notes.

15.07.2020 - The health-promoting properties of brown algae are not only basis of the research within the fucoidan-focused FucoSan project. The research group around project partner Prof Dr Deniz Tasdemir, head of the research unit Marine Natural Product Chemistry at GEOMAR, investigates, beyond the FucoSan project, brown algae ingredients and confirmed the corresponding potential as a potential remedy against infections and skin cancer. Supported by methods of bioinformatics and machine learning, activities in the extraction, purification and characterisation of marine bio-substances with regard to their chemical and bioactive properties and their use for a later medical-pharmaceutical application were also carried out as part of the research. The results have now been published in the journal Marine Drugs. Furthermore, the Northern German TV channel broadcasted a report in the "Schleswig-Holstein Magazin".

14.06.2020 - “How Knowledge Distance Determines the R&D Performance on the example of Fucoidans. The Moderating Effects of Network Ties and Absorptive Capacity” - This research paper of Daniel Laufs was accepted at the 27th Innovation and product development management conference (IPDMC). Together with Q-Aktiv, our project partner Daniel has conducted an exciting study on the optimal composition of multidisciplinary teams. Central impulses came from the interdisciplinary FucoSan project, where partners from science and industry work together.

11.06.2020 - The FucoSan partners have been producing fucoidans from brown algae of various origins for more than two years. In several teams, the extracts were characterised using different chemical and biological methods. All relevant properties were entered into a database. Thereby a reference was established for the first time that allows the selection of suitable fucoidans for different applications and commercial use. A part of this database has now been published. It is freely accessible on the EU sponsored open science platform Zenodo. The simple structure is user-friendly and self-contained. For scientists also very important: The database can be cited as source, it has a digital object identifier (DOI) for use on digital networks. "The Zenodo platform has been built and developed by researchers to ensure that everyone can participate in open science. We are very proud to make our contribution to this," says Ferran Giones, from SDU Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Sandesh Neupane, pharmaceutical biologist of Kiel University adds: “The database is the basis for knowledge transfer: science and industry can use the results from the different extraction methods and characterisation as well as the documentation on the selection of the most suitable sources for fucoidans.”
Click on the following link to access the Zenodo platform: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3876379 

26.05.2020 - Sandesh Neupane, PhD Researcher at Kiel University, worked at Wyatt Technology Europe in Dernbach from 16 to 21 December 2019. There he analysed the fucoidans using the SEC-MALS-VIS-RI system. This analysis data is used for at least two scientific publications. He also presented the FucoSan project at Wyatt.  
Wyatt Technology is one of the leading companies in light scattering instrumentation and software for determining the absolute molar mass, size, charge and interactions of macromolecules and nanoparticles in solution.

13.05.2020 - Researchers are invited to submit their contributions to the FucoSan conference. Papers can be submitted for open talks and poster presentations on scientific and economic topics. Submission by Wednesday, 1 July 2020, by e-mail to abstracts@fucosan.eu.

Click here for programme and online registration.

04.05.2020 - After three years of successful cooperation, the FucoSan project partners are now preparing their final conference. On August 25 and 26, 2020, scientific findings will be presented. Also possible applications of these bioactive extracts from algae will be discussed with experts and the first product developments of brown algae extracts will be presented. The conference is currently planned as an attendance event. Should the corona situation prevent this, a digital solution will be organised.

Click here for programme and online registration.

20.03.2020 - One of the main results of FucoSan is the database in which the partners have documented the properties of all Fucoidan samples. Merging this data enables the partners to derive structure-activity relationships and information on which Fucoidan is best suited for the various applications and which degree of purification is required. In this way, the database makes a constructive contribution to application-oriented optimisation of production and selection of the most suitable Fucoidan algae sources. A valuable treasure for research in the border region!   
April 6th is "Freeze Day" - at this time an extract of the data from the database will be taken. This data extract will be prepared for later publication and thus made available to other researchers. The database will continue to exist and will be filled with data by the project partners. 

18.02.2020 – At the partner meeting in Sonderborg on February 13th Dr. Levent Piker of OceanBASIS GmbH presented the latest findings from the pilot run "Cosmetics". The prototype for the cream is expected to be available by the end of the project. At the time of the meeting, it was already close to a marketable product, but needs more time for optimisation (e.g. regarding stability) and certification. 
The Kiel-based company for sustainable marine natural product extraction has developed an industrial process for the extraction of fucus, which leads to a nutritionally compatible and marketable extract. Further tests are required to specify the proven antibacterial activities.

The research group dealing with the properties involved in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration was also able to report a success. After 90 extracts had been characterised, the most promising candidates capable of inhibiting the growth factor VEGF have now been found. This finding forms the basis for further research. However, there is still a long way to go before a corresponding drug can be launched.

18.12.2019 – In November, the FucoSan partner CRM started a new research project.

Over a period of three years, three different shallow water sites in the Bay of Kiel will be selected to document the settlement of the bladder fucus (fucus vesiculosus) which is native and protected in Germany.

Besides the stone fields overgrown with Fucus, there will also be so called control fields (uncovered stones) at each site which will allow to track potential sowing and further growth of the Fucus.

Depending on the success of the settlement, these newly settled fields could enable the extraction of fucus-biomass of different densities, and thus the assessment of potential of sustainable farming on separate Fucus cultivation areas.

Funding body of the project is the State Agency for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas of Schleswig-Holstein.

01.12.2019 – At the “FucoSan – from Science to Innvoation Day 2019” conference on November 26th at the GEOMAR Kiel, around 70 experts talked about brown algae and the Fucoidans it contains. The renowned scientist Frédéric Chaubet from the University of Paris 13 Nord held a guest lecture on ‘Fucoidan: How a marine polysaccharide helps fighting cardiovascular diseases’. Afterwards, the German and Danish partners presented the knowledge they have acquired during the FucoSan project.
The focus was, among others, on the sustainable extraction of the raw material as well as the different techniques to provide the extracts and their chemical and biological characterisation. Other aspects were the fields of application, business models und the establishment of a Fucoidan innovation network.
“This day offered an outstanding forum to discuss research results, but also to make new contacts and gain knowledge about the potentials of commercialising Fucoidans in various application fields,” states Prof. Dr Deniz Tasdemir, host of the conference.

14.11.2019 – Ferran Giones Valls received the Young Scientist Award 2019 donated by the BHJ Foundation. Our project partner was honored due to his studies to find out how the knowledge and the latest technologies can best be converted into value for companies in the cross border region. More than 70 participants, representing 32 different companies, attended the awards ceremony in the Mads Clausen Institute's Center for Industrial Electronics.

Within the FucoSan project, Ferran is part of the team which conducts market analyses and develops business models for products based on fucoidan extracts.
The BHJ foundation was established by Svend Beck, Peter Holm and Vagn Jacobsen to support  humanitarian, cultural and general purposes.

11.10.2019 – This year’s Nordic Seaweed Conference was a good possibility for the FucoSan project partners to discuss their newest findings on Fucoidans: “Our project was of great interest for researchers and users. And we have also expanded our network. Furthermore, our doctoral students could present their research results in front of an audience of experts,” says project coordinator Alexa Klettner, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein. For Christian Koch, from Coastal Research & Management oHG, the conference was an excellent networking opportunity as well as a chance to find new project and business partners and to shed some light on the current status of the FucoSan project. The conference took place on 9th and 10th of October in Greenaa, Denmark. The topic of this year's conference was Meeting the UN sustainability goals by Innovation in Macroalgae as a Bioresource.

09.10.2019 – FucoSan has now a project account on the science platform ResearchGate. Thus, the research results of the project are available in one central pool. The social network allows the German and Danish FucoSan partners to exchange detailed questions about Fucoidans and also to share their knowledge with other interested researchers. Even without a membership studies and results can be found.
Go to FucoSan on ResearchGate

04.10.2019 – This year the Citizens' Day of German Unity was celebrated in Kiel and FucoSan was part of it! The German-Danish Interreg project presented itself on October 3rd at the "SH-Ländermeile". A total of about 500,000 visitors were counted at the festival.

19.09.2019 – On September 16th, the FucoSan partners came together for a project meeting. The major topic of the meeting was the database, where the project partners currently enter their data of the Fucoidan samples. In the database, the results of the filtration processes and characterisations are available in a crossboarder digital documentation for the first time.
Initially, only 60 entries were planned, whereas now there are already more than 90. The biggest challenge was met already beforehand: The researchers from different disciplines managed to set common parameters, which need to be documented by all parties. The aim is to make parts of the dataset freely available, quotable as well as free-of-charge for the public.

23.07.2019 – What opportunities and challenges do algae offer as the raw material of the future?
To discuss this question, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel invites, on behalf of all project partners, stakeholders from science and economy to the “FucoSan – from Science to Innovation Day 2019” on the 26th of November 2019 in Kiel. The aim of the international event is an exchange of the research findings so far within the project.
read more

03.07.2019 – How can EU projects initiate interdisciplinary cooperation? The FucoSan project provides concrete answers and motivates young researchers to use insights on the project’s results for their final theses. Under the supervision of the project partners Ferran Giones, Mads Clausen Institute, and Xavier Fretté, Faculty of Engineering, both at the University of Southern Denmark, five final theses have been completed during the last months.
read more

03.07.2019 — that’s DRUID19 Copenhagen. Our project partners Ferran Giones from the University of Southern Denmark, and Daniel Laufs, from Kiel University presented their working paper “The Evolution of Ecosystems for Complex Biotechnologies: Barriers for Technology Exploration and Exploitation”. ‘At the conference, we received international attention presenting our latest results on the qualitative study on the status of fucoidans between technology exploration and exploitation. The feedback helps us to further elaborate the application case to improve the studies on how innovation ecosystems evolve and which critical success factors have to be analysed more precisely’, stated Daniel Laufs.
read more

21.06.2019 – At the project meeting at the “Adelige Jomfrukloster“ in Odense, the individual research groups communicated actively with eachother.
The findings from the chemical and biological methods of characterisation are building up: the relevant characteristics can now be assigned to the various fucoidan samples.
“We have passed through the targeted value chain from the harvest of the algae over the input into the database to the qualifying examination during the pilot runs. The chain is now implemented and working – therefore we have met a significant interim target of our project“, lead partner Alexa Klettner proclaims.

29.04.2019 – On 27 April 2019, our project partner Xavier Fretté presented FucoSan at the Danish Science Festival, the National Research Day. Almost 3,000 visitors came to the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. Xavier explained how Fucoidans can be helpful in medicine and cosmetics and how the project partners extract and investigate them. "It was a good opportunity to tell the Danish population about our research activities," said the professor at the Institute of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Technology.

19.03.2019 – Throughout the FucoSan project, new products and processes are being developed. Dr Alexandra Cordeiro Baumgartner of the Patent and Utilisation Agency Schleswig-Holstein (PVA SH GmbH) informed the project partners about the possibility of securing these innovations with patents.
The granting of a patent is linked to three conditions: The product, device or process must be new and original (i.e. not obvious). Furthermore, an industrial utilisation must be possible.

A patent prevents others from producing, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the same products in the country in which the patent was granted. For the FucoSan partners, it may be relevant that it is possible to obtain protection even if it is not clearly defined. For example, this kind of protection could be applied for a natural product manufactured under defined conditions.

The PVA SH is the central institution of scientific organisations for the registration of industrial property rights in Schleswig-Holstein. Founded by all universities, technical colleges and the Technology Transfer Centre Schleswig-Holstein, PVA SH offers free services in the field of industrial property protection for all employees of the state's universities and scientific institutes.

11.03.2019 – A first interim result that can be ‘grasped with hands’ has now been presented by oceanBASIS: For the prototype of a cream, fresh algae material of the type Fucus vesiculosus was used. ‘Our prototype has some excellent properties. For example, the cream is easy to spread and absorbs quickly,’ says production manager Susanne Woldmann.
oceanBASIS has specialised in making marine natural substances available for human health. In the FucoSan project, the Kiel-based company is looking for the most efficient extraction method for bioactivities relevant to cosmetics. ‘The cream fits very well into the oceanBASIS product line. Now we have to test further properties and the stability,’ continues Susanne Woldmann.

01.03.2019 – At the meeting on 25 and 26 February in Kiel, the partners worked on identifying promising business models. Ferran Giones from the University of Southern Denmark, together with his colleagues from the Institute of Business Administration at Christian-Albrechts-University, is responsible for the sustainability of the FucoSan project. ‘We wanted to know how our experts assess the market opportunities of individual parts of the FucoSan value chain,’ says Giones. Criteria for the evaluation were economic factors such as compelling reason for purchase, economic feasibility, possible obstacles to implementation, time to profitability and possible risks.
The discussion was based on the respective reports of the individual partners on algae collection and cultivation, extraction and characterisation of Fucoidans, the Fucoidan database and tests in the fields of ophthalmology, tissue engineering and cosmetics.

31.01.2019 – Philip Brodersen, M.Sc. Drug Research, has delivered promising results in the characterisation of fucoidans with his master thesis. In his work, he compares two different methods for the purification of extracts. One of them is the established method of Ehrig and Alban (2014) and the other the so-called diafiltration. ‘We have collected initial evidence that diafiltration can be a very good alternative. Furthermore, this process is environmentally friendly and cost-effective as it does not require organic solvents,’ says Brodersen.
Although Fucus serratus and Fucus vesiculosus showed some significant results in activity and yield, it became clear that Fucus evanescens is the algae species with the best features for characterization. It achieves particularly satisfactory results in the three relevant categories of purity, yield and biological activity.
Philip Brodersen wrote his master's thesis at the Pharmaceutical Institute of the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, while he completed his practical year as a pharmacist there in 2018. ‘The purification results are very useful for our further activities in the FucoSan project,’ explains Professor Susanne Alban, Director of the Institute.

05.01.2018 – In its December issue, the Pharmaceutical newspaper published an article about the FucoSan project. The article ‘Algae for the eyes’ informs about the beginnings of the project and emphasises the importance of fucoidans for medical and pharmaceutical research.
The Pharmaceutical newspaper is the central organ for the pharmacists of the Federal Republic of Germany and is published by the Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverband e.V. (ABDA).

to the online publication:
https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/algen-fuer-die-augen/ 

03.12.2018 – The fourth meeting of FucoSan partners was hosted by the Danish Technical University in Copenhagen. Prof. Anne S. Meyer and Maria Dalgaard Mikkelsen from the Institute of Chemical Technology gave an insight into the university's laboratories.

The highlight of the meeting was Professor Susanne Alban. The director of the Department of Pharmaceutical Biology at the Kiel University presented the first version of the database. The database will be developed browser-based during the course of the project and, as soon as it is online, will be filled with the data collected by all partners involved in the characterisation of the fucoidans.
In the first step, the database will be used purely within the project. At a later stage, concepts to ensure their sustainability will be discussed. Finally, the goal is access for the scientific use of Fucoidans.

19.10.2018 - Project partner Daniel Laufs from University of Kiel presented the FucoSan project at the WHINN 2018 in Odense. The international conference for health technologies and innovation addresses representatives from research, economy, education and politics. Therefore, there were many references regarding the interdisciplinary approach of a German-Danish value chain centred on fucoidans.

18.10.2018 - At the SDU Sønderborg, engineering students took part in a business game, organised by Ferran Giones, Assistant Professor for Technology Entrepreneurship at the SDU. The students were in the role of a new project manager of FucoSan. Their task was to search for existing patents with fucoidans and then to map an innovation ecosystem around the FucoSan technologies and their various applications. In the end, the ‘managers’ were asked to present the results of their research and answer the question: ‘Does it seem like a promising market to you?’

04.10.2018 - How do application fields emerge from laboratory research? How do this application fields shape technology commercialisation opportunities? And what are the key actors when it comes to bringing new technologies and solutions out of the lab to be deployed? FucoSan project partner Daniel Laufs from the Institute of Technology Management at the Kiel University set out his approach to answer these questions at the International Conference on Engineering 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany. On the basis of the project FucoSan, Daniel Laufs pointed out the opportunities of strengthening genuine innovation ecological systems by reflecting the ties of converging technologies. His approach is based on the linking of field research, network- and patent analysis. Completely new scopes and marketing options in the medical sector could be exploited for FucoSan. For this purpose mediators are needed to play a major role during the transfer of new technologies from the status of basic research to their application orientated development to the final state of application and practice. The conference presentation is followed by a specialist publication.

07.09.2018 - Research is still on the trail of the various applications of microalgae: Professor Søren Laurentius Nielsen from Roskilde University in Denmark was invited by the FucoSan partners to Kiel to present his research results on the production and use of microalgae biomass. In a recently completed project, Professor Nielsen has worked on improving and industrialising the production of live fish feed based on small crustaceans. He has reconstructed a natural food chain from microalgae to crustaceans to fish in a controlled environment on an industrial scale.

Professor Nielsen is a member of the project advisory board of FucoSan. The project partners invited him to the lecture in order to gain insights for their work. Project coordinator Professor Dr. Alexa Klettner: ‘With Professor Nielsen, we have brought a top-class expert to Kiel. The components of microalgae can be very interesting for a variety of applications, including health.’

The talk take place on Thursday, 20th September 2018, at 5 pm at the lecture hall of the UKSH-Augenklinik (UKSH-eye hospital) in Kiel.

06.09.2018 - Thinking about algae – what springs to your mind? A vague memory of the latest Baltic Sea vacation or the last time you visited a sushi restaurant, which has already been too long ago? The widespread sea plant offers more than most people know. Read the complete article within the Interreg Newsletter in German | in Danish. 

01.08.2018 - The networking of users and developers of ‘blue biotechnology’ is an important issue on the conference ‘Blue Biotechnology in Baltic Sea Region’. At the event, FucoSan is presented in a poster presentation and plans to establish further contacts in the Baltic Sea region. The conference is organised by the ‘Baltic Blue Biotech Alliance’ project, which is funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region. From the 22nd to 24th of August, about 120 participants from science and industry discuss the research field of ‘blue technology’ in Greifswald.
For conference information: www.balticbluealliance-conference.eu

20.07.2018 - In order to effectively achieve the common goal of a successful Fucoidan characterisation, four PhD students of the project partners Kiel University and University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein met in Kiel on the 19th of July in 2018.
The young scientists exchanged experiences, discussed the scientific problem and coordinated their further work processes. The first meeting is being followed by a regular exchange every two months.

02.06.2018 - During the joint project meeting on the 31st of May in Kiel, the scientists exchanged their initial experiences gained by extracting and characterising fucoidans.
Beforehand, the project partners had produced several extracts out of different types of algae, provided by project partner CRM, partly harvested at own site, partly bought from external suppliers. The fucoidans of the six utilised algae differ in their chemical properties. Depending on origin, molecular size as well as the test system fucoidans can provoke opposite effects. Purification and exact characterisation therefore are essential. During these processes, the partners determine parameters like degree of sulphation, protein concentration, monosaccharide composition and molecular mass.
As a next step, the partners generate further extracts of algae in order to produce larger amounts of fucoidans and to verify the previous results.

02.06.2018 -  The Project Advisory Group had its first meeting on 1 June. Its members praised the mature systematic and comprehensive approach of the project. They also provided valuable information on networking opportunities and the further course of action of the project partners. It became clear during the discussion that the FucoSan partners need partners from industry, especially for the production of medical products. Back row (from left to right):

• Wolfgang-Dieter Glanz, Bundesverband Aquakultur e.V.
• Dr. Per Spindler, Biopeople
• Efthalia Arvaniti, PhD, SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth
• Dr. Kristin Krüger, Fraunhofer Einrichtung für Marine Biotechnologie
  Front row:
• Ass. Prof. Søren Laurentius Nielsen, PhD, Roskilde University
• Claire Hellio, European Society for Marine Biotechnology
• Dr. Imke Schneemann, Life Science Nord Management GmbH