Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry

The exhibition "From birch seed to betulin" has been opened at the Pharmacy Museum, Riharda Vagnera Street 13, Riga, which shows the wide and innovative possibilities of using birch in an engaging way. Scientists from the Biorefinery Laboratory of the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry participated in the preparation of the exhibition together with cooperation partners. The exhibition is open till April 19, 2025. Pharmacy Museum

The national final of the "Bio-based Innovation Student Challenge Europe BISC-E" will take place on 8 May, 2025. BISC-E is an annual event organised by the Bio-Based Industries Consortium to reward outstanding students working in the bioeconomy who are ready to actively, creatively and skillfully address the technological challenges faced by society today. The website of the international competition can be found here Latvian university students are invited to take part in a competition in which student teams must present their innovation - an environmentally friendly, sustainable product or technology. The Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry organises the National final of the BISC-E competition. Participants are invited to register their teams by 28 February by emailing the BISC-E local contact Uģis Cābulis (ugis.cabulis@kki.lv). To register, please send the team name, the names of the team members and the consultant, and state whether you wish to submit your original innovation idea, or address one of the pre-defined challenges provided by the BISC-E partners. The teams can submit their own biomass-based ideas, or create solutions to the challenges given by the competition partners SIA Field and Forest and AS Latvijas valsts meži. The teams will afterwards prepare full descriptions of their innovations and give presentations at the National final, which will take place during the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry's Student Conference in May 8, 2025. During the National final, a jury will select the winner, who will receive a cash prize and the opportunity to participate in the European final. Benefits for the participants An opportunity to boost the bioeconomy and make the world a better place! New skills and knowledge - all participants will be able to take part in an online workshop aimed at supporting participants in the preparation of their innovation profile. The workshop will be facilitated by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) specialist, Ph. D., Karīna Bāliņa, and is organised with the support of the Nucleate Latvia team. Opportunity to make new contacts both with Latvian industry and internationally - European final winners receive free participation in the Bio-based Industries Consortium network. Valuable experience and training in presenting your ideas - the team that makes it to the European final will receive training and support to present your innovation clearly and effectively. All participants will receive incentive prizes and the winners will also receive a cash prize. Competition regulation Innovation Dossier template Winners of the previous years can be seen here

On 8 May 2025, the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry will host a Student Conference, during which students working at LSIWC will present their research topics to receive feedback from colleagues and prepare for their final thesis defence. The conference will include two plenary lectures, as well as the Latvian final of the BISC-E Student Competition. The conference language is Latvian, but the BISC-E final will be held in English. Preliminary program 9:00 Plenary lecture Klimatneitralitātes mērķi un to radītie izaicinājumi zemes izmantošanas, zemes izmantošanas maiņas un mežsaimniecības sektorā (Dr. silv. Andis Lazdiņš, Latvijas Valsts mežzinātnes institūts "Silava") 9:40 Plenary lecture Bioekonomikas potenciāls: polimēru un biodegvielu izaicinājumi un iespējas nākotnei (Ph. D. Miķelis Kirpļuks, Latvijas Valsts koksnes ķīmijas institūts) 10:30 Student presentations 13:30 BISC-E student competition Latvian final 14:10 Closing remarks, awards

The first International Conference for Young Scientists on Biorefinery Technologies and Products "BTechPro!" was established in 2022 by the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, and so far it has gained a lot of recognition and proven to be a valuable platform for students and early stage researchers to actively present their research topics, attend workshops and plenary lectures, and participate in networking activities. The previous BTechPro! edition gathered almost 100 participants from 14 countries. Information about the conference is available on www.btechpro.lv. The next BTechPro! conference will be held in 2026, and more details will be published soon. The organisers may be contacted by e-mail btechpro@kki.lv (for participants, sponsors, lecturers, partners).