THE PROJECT
From research foundations to applied validation.
Sweethoven Biotech is an applied research and transfer project at the University of Bonn. Its current work builds on several years of publicly funded research in microbial biotechnology, carbohydrate conversion and the development of potential sugar alternatives.
Funding History
RESEARCH FOUNDATION
2017 – 2020
IMPRES
The first funding period of the BMBF-funded collaborative research project IMPRES was a joint research effort by the University of Bonn, RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, involving the groups of Prof. Dr. Uwe Deppenmeier, Prof. Dr. Jochen Büchs and Prof. Dr. Michael Bott. The project focused on establishing and advancing enzymatic production processes for calorie-reduced and functional sugar derivatives and laid important groundwork for subsequent research activities in this field.
2020 – 2024
IMPRES2
The second funding period of the BMBF-funded collaborative research project IMPRES built substantially on biocatalysts identified during the first funding phase. These included enzymes enabling, for example, the rapid synthesis or distinctive hydrolysis of the fructan polymer levan. IMPRES2 further developed these biocatalytic tools and the corresponding production processes, strengthening the scientific and technological foundation for subsequent research and transfer activities.
TRANSFER & VALIDATION
2023
Prototyping Grant
The Prototyping Grant focused on a promising trisaccharide that had not been investigated within the preceding IMPRES projects. The funding enabled its transition from laboratory-scale research toward pilot-scale production and supported production at kilogram scale, providing sufficient material for subsequent in vivo studies and functional validation.
2024 – 2025
DATIpilot Innovation Sprint
The DATIpilot project further scaled the production of the previously developed trisaccharide and enabled the manufacture of approximately 25 kg of pilot material. A tailored, scalable chromatographic purification process was developed in collaboration with a specialized service provider to support pilot-scale preparation of the candidate. The resulting material was used for application-oriented pilot studies together with established food companies, enabling evaluation in realistic food and processing contexts and advancing broader functional and application-related validation.
The name Sweethoven Biotech was introduced in the context of this research and transfer project.
2025 – 2028
CURRENT PROJECT
VIP+ Validation Support
The current VIP+ validation project brings together complementary expertise from microbiology and biotechnology, process engineering and food science to investigate three promising sugar-alternative candidates. The Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Bonn focuses on their biotechnological production, the AVT.FVT group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Jupke at RWTH Aachen University on downstream processing, and the Molecular Food Technology group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Schieber at the University of Bonn on functional and application-related evaluation. This interdisciplinary collaboration enables the candidates to be assessed across the entire development chain, from production and purification to functional validation.
Sweethoven Biotech is the shared name for a continuing series of research projects exploring sweet, functional carbohydrates. First used as the official project acronym in 2024 under DATIpilot funding, the name has been carried forward into the current project. Supported by the VIP+ programme, this project builds on earlier research and focuses on the production, purification and functional validation of selected carbohydrate candidates.