BOKU University

BOKU University is one of Europe’s leading universities in life sciences, sustainability and natural resource management. Founded in Vienna in 1872, BOKU combines natural sciences, engineering, economics and social sciences to address major societal challenges and develop solutions for a sustainable future. Today, BOKU has around 11,000 students and 3,000 employees across six interdisciplinary departments.

BOKU’s research is strongly oriented towards sustainability and the bioeconomy, with expertise covering the entire spectrum from renewable resource production and ecosystem management to processing, technologies, economic systems and societal transformation. Its research framework combines six broad competence areas with the strategic focal areas of bioeconomy and sustainability, enabling interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration across scientific disciplines.

A particular strength of BOKU is its ability to connect biological resources, technologies, industrial processes and socio-economic systems along complete value chains. Research areas include agriculture and forestry, biomass production and utilisation, wood and renewable materials, biotechnology, food systems, waste and circularity, environmental engineering, climate change, natural resource management, sustainable economics and innovation.

BOKU has substantial expertise relevant to the circular and bio-based economy, including sustainable biomass production and supply, resource efficiency, bio-based materials, circular economy approaches, sustainability assessment and the transformation of value chains. Current research addresses, for example, sustainable biomass potentials, biomass production and processing, environmental and social aspects of the bioeconomy, and the assessment and design of sustainable biomass value chains.

The university has extensive experience in cooperation with industry, public organisations and international research partners. BOKU explicitly supports knowledge and technology transfer, entrepreneurship and collaborative research, and has established long-term partnerships with companies and industry-oriented research organisations.

For IFIB 2026, BOKU is particularly interested in connecting with companies, research organisations, technology providers, start-ups, public organisations and other stakeholders working on:

• Circular and sustainable bioeconomy

• Sustainable biomass production, sourcing and supply chains

• Wood, forestry and renewable resources

• Bio-based materials and products

• Biorefineries and biomass processing

• Circular resource use and cascading utilisation

• Digitalisation and data-driven bioeconomy value chains

• Sustainability assessment, LCA and environmental performance

• Resource efficiency and climate mitigation

• New technologies for sustainable production and logistics

• Socio-economic assessment and market uptake of bio-based innovations

BOKU is interested in joint R&D projects, European and national funding proposals, technology development, pilot and demonstration activities, field trials, sustainability assessments, knowledge transfer and long-term research-industry cooperation.

BOKU can contribute scientific expertise, interdisciplinary research teams, experimental and field infrastructure, modelling and assessment methods, and established networks across the forest-based, agricultural, environmental and bio-based sectors. Its combination of fundamental research and application-oriented cooperation makes BOKU a potential partner for developing and evaluating innovative solutions for a sustainable, circular and competitive bioeconomy.