The Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM) is a European, cross-border, research institute focusing on the development of advanced biobased materials. AMIBM designs, creates and translates biobased molecules, processes and materials into applications that outperform in functionality and sustainability for better living.
AMIBM is located in the Netherlands on the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in the Dutch Province of Limburg and has a branch office in Germany, and conducts innovative fundamental, applied and translational research by creating synergies between academia and industry.
The AMIBM vision is to provide the missing links between fundamental, applied and translational research in the field of biobased materials, by changing the relationship between the production of biobased materials and the value chain. This will be achieved by developing an integrated, interdisciplinary research program focusing on novel strategies to produce advanced biobased materials and chemical building blocks in a sustainable and economical manner, and to develop these novel materials into innovative products for technical and medical applications.
AMIBM has a clear mission statement: 'to design, create and translate biobased molecules, processes and materials into applications that outperform in functionality and sustainability for better living':
The AMIBM-way to accomplish the mission is that:
In its research offered by transdisciplinary competence teams facilitated by state-of-the-art research infrastructure, AMIBM strengthens every step in the value chain from biobased molecules, processes and materials into applications as well as the value chain as a whole by developing a common language and methodology between all experts from biotechnology, polymer chemistry and physics, material science and engineering, fibre and medical technology, and sustainability.
Brightlands is an open innovation community in a global context, connecting four campuses in the province of Limburg: in Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen and Venlo. The campuses provide entrepreneurs, scientists and students state-of-the-art facilities to support development, education, innovation and growth. Naturally, there are close links between all four Brightlands campuses, and together they enable Limburg to serve as an innovation region where researchers and entrepreneurs take on the major challenges in the areas of materials, health, food and smart services.
An extraordinary multidisciplinary and multinational team will work together the next 42 months developing innovative and sustainable processes to produce biofuels from organic waste with negative emissions
A team of UM students from the Biobased Materials Masters, Business Engineering, Bachelors and Maastricht Science Program Bachelors was awarded 2nd place in the Netherlands’s national phase of Biobased Innovation Student Challenge Europe (BISC-E) Competition 2022.
The Menno Knetsch Award 2022 has been awarded to MSc Biobased Materials graduate Marco Serafini. His winning thesis was about ‘Sustainability assessment of biobased colourants for packaging applications.’
“The beauty of nature lies in both her complexity and in her simplicity. This inspires to develop truly 'green' and resource efficient chemical syntheses and production of molecules and materials to sustain the future of our planet and society”
"Only if one understands polymeric material functionalities down to morphological, structural and ultimately molecular length-scales, the added technical functionality of biobased molecules is recognised."
"Molecular design and engineering of bio-based building blocks is a key to sustainable materials of the future."
"My ambition is that all materials will be sustainable in the future and that's also the reason why I cooperate in InSciTE with universities and companies."
“Nature is a tremendous source of materials. However, we can improve it further by tweaking plants and microbes to increase production of desired building blocks. Our cross-border collaboration with Fraunhofer IME ensures exchange of knowledge and infrastructures, boosting the development and application of Biobased materials.”
"Innovative biobased materials need new, innovative processing; that’s what we are developing! Fibres made of 'frozen air', biobased functional additives, multi-property single-material products for recycling, and much more… Our research has a positive impact on your daily life!"