The “19th National Biotechnology Congress with International Participation” organized by Eskişehir Osmangazi University and the Biotechnology Association has started at the Congress and Culture Center. The congress, which will take place between December 01-03, 2017, will feature biotechnology...

Speaking at the opening of the congress, Biotechnology Association President Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem compared R&D expenditures in different countries of the world and stated that it is not enough to just allocate money and conduct R&D; it is possible to increase added value by spending less money as long as we turn to an information society, an economy based on information, and a bioeconomy. Stating that more than 50 percent of R&D expenditures in our country are made in the public sector, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem stated that this needs to change and noted that in countries where more than 70 percent of R&D expenditures are made by the private sector, R&D outputs can be turned into products and patented. Stating that they were happy with the participation of more than 300 participants and 53 different institutions in the congress, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem stated that there will be 21 sessions, 90 oral presentations and 81 poster presentations in the congress. Thanking Eskişehir Osmangazi University President Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen, Vice President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Çabuk and the organizing committee for their contributions to the organization of the congress, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem also thanked the participants and wished a successful congress.

Eskişehir Osmangazi University President Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen said that biotechnology, which is among the advanced technologies, covers all areas within the application area of life sciences and has a widespread application area from health to agriculture, from environment to energy. Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen stated that biotechnology has recently increased its impact value by advancing together with information technologies. Stating that as Eskişehir Osmangazi University, they continue to contribute to our country's biotechnology studies by giving priority to both undergraduate and graduate education programs and R&D activities, Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen said that they contributed to the training of qualified human resources that our country needs in these fields by opening a biomedical engineering program in addition to undergraduate and graduate education programs in the fields of health, industry and agricultural biotechnologies. Stating that they were very happy to host the 19th National Biotechnology Congress with International Participation, Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen stated that our University, which hosted the 14th National Biotechnology Congress in 2005, has continued its cooperation with the Biotechnology Association for many years and that they were pleased to organize another Biotechnology Congress together during this process. Thanking the President of the Biotechnology Association Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem for his close interest and cooperation, Prof. Dr. Hasan Gönen wished the congress to be useful and productive.

The opening session of the congress was concluded with the presentations of Dr. Laszlo Sabados from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Dr. Ercan Varlıbaş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VSY Biotechnology. The scientific program of the congress was then started.

News Link: http://www.biomedya.com/uluslararasi-katilimli-19-ulusal-biyoteknoloji-kongresi-eskisehir-osmangazi-universitesinde-basladi