As an international leading research center at the interface between academic research and industrial application, acib sees itself as a driving force for responsible innovation. Scientific excellence at acib is inseparably linked with ethical responsibility, integrity, sustainability, and inclusion. These values are not only part of compliance, but also shape the self-image and daily practice of all employees.
- Ethics: Societal and ecological impacts are considered early on (“Ethics by Design”). Independent ethics committees accompany sensitive projects and ensure objective evaluations. Adherence to international standards and “Good Scientific Practice” forms the basis for reliable research and successful collaboration.
- Sustainability: acib promotes biotechnological solutions for a sustainable circular economy, relies on responsible resource use, and supports ESG standards.
- Biodiversity: acib ensures the preservation and promotion of biological diversity in all projects. Negative impacts on ecosystems are avoided, and sustainable solutions are prioritized.
- Inclusion and Diversity: A respectful, equitable working environment is central. All employees are responsible for respectful and non-discriminatory interactions.
acib understands research as a societal mission: Innovations are shaped not only in the laboratory, but also in dialogue with society, the environment, and the economy. This fundamental attitude shapes all activities and forms the foundation for the following chapters on ethics, scientific integrity, sustainability, and inclusion.
8.1 Ethics & Social Responsibility
For acib GmbH, as a leading international research center, scientific excellence is inextricably linked to a far-reaching sense of ethical responsibility. In our role as a bridge between basic university research and industrial application, we view ethics – beyond mere compliance with all legal and regulatory obligations – as an integral component and a driving force behind forward-looking innovations. We are unconditionally committed to adhering to the highest international standards of good scientific practice as well as recognized compliance guidelines.
Research projects that touch on ethically sensitive areas of industrial biotechnology are reviewed and supported by dedicated ethics committees at our partner universities. In doing so, we follow the “Ethics by Design” approach: Ethical considerations, risk minimization, and safety aspects (Biosafety & Biosecurity) are systematically incorporated and proactively addressed as early as the conceptual phase of projects.
acib views research as a clear societal mandate to help shape a future worth living. As an international center of excellence, we develop biotechnological solutions that actively drive the transition toward a sustainable, bio-based circular economy (bioeconomy). In doing so, we combine ecological sustainability, industrial competitiveness, and direct societal benefits in alignment with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This commitment requires the deep trust of the public, our consortium partners, and funding agencies. It obliges us to uphold absolute scientific integrity, the careful use of resources, open risk communication, and maximum transparency in all our decisions and processes.
Ethical Principles in Research
Our understanding of research ethics goes far beyond mere compliance with formal guidelines for good scientific practice. As a link between university-based basic research and industrial application, acib operates in a complex and highly influential environment. We align our actions, our project evaluations, and our strategic decisions with the four central normative dimensions of consequential ethics, business ethics, eco-ethics, and social responsibility.
The following principles articulate the organization’s ethical, ecological, and social mission statement. They describe objectives and guiding principles that should shape the organization’s actions. They do not constitute a definitive description of existing practices, but rather outline the framework of standards and development. The four dimensions form the binding normative framework for all employees of acib GmbH, our strategic partner institutions, and all project participants, and serve as the basis for internal ethical assessments.
1 - Consequential Ethics: Responsibility for Impacts and Resilience
Die industrielle Biotechnologie hat das Potenzial, Systeme grundlegend zu verändern. Wir bewerten unsere Forschungsvorhaben proaktiv anhand ihrer tatsächlichen und potenziellen Konsequenzen:
- Progress & Problem Solving: We promote innovations that generate concrete therapeutic benefits, increase societal adaptability, and serve as tools for future challenges (empowerment).
- Risk minimization: We analyze unforeseen negative consequences, safety risks (biosafety & biosecurity), and potential snowball effects at an early stage to preventively counteract potential misuse and ethically controversial applications.
- Technological sovereignty: We strive to reduce technological dependencies and monopolies to create a broad and resilient technological base.
2 - Eco- and environmental ethics: Responsibility for planetary boundaries
As a driver of the bioeconomy, the ecological integrity of our work is non-negotiable. We aim to decouple environmental consumption from economic growth:
- Circular Economy & Resource Conservation: Our solutions aim to replace fossil raw materials, ensure sustainable production, and achieve deep integration into the circular economy.
- Protection of Ecological Systems: We analyze and assess, among other things, the environmental footprint of our technologies, as well as their systemic effects on ecosystems, to avoid or minimize potentially negative impacts on natural systems, including biodiversity
- Raw Material Criticality: We consider the origin and substitutability of input materials to minimize geopolitical and toxicological risks in the value chain
3 - Business Ethics: Responsibility in Partnerships and the Market
In our role as an innovation partner to industry, we are committed to value-based business practices that promote fair markets and responsible commercialization:
- Ethical Innovation & Cooperation: We strengthen cooperative structures, ethical business models, and regional value creation. We do not cooperate with partners who tolerate unfair business practices or exploitation, and we fulfill our responsibility in the supply chain through appropriate verification, documentation, and escalation processes.
- Transparency & Scalability: We critically assess whether innovations constructively integrate existing structures or have a disruptive effect (internal scalability vs. disruption) and avoid platform dependencies or the formation of monopolies.
- Accessibility: We ensure the affordability of our innovations and evaluate investment barriers to ensure that sustainable technologies are widely applicable.
4 - Social Justice: Responsibility for Inclusion and Participation
Our research should serve the common good and not exacerbate social inequalities:
- Democratization & Participation: We promote access to knowledge and education, strengthen interdisciplinarity, and involve stakeholders in the knowledge-generation process in a participatory manner.
- Equal Opportunity & Epistemic Justice: We respect diverse forms of knowledge and cultural traditions. We ensure that technological developments do not lead to digital exclusion, cultural appropriation, or the marginalization of vulnerable groups.
- Intergenerational Justice: In all our endeavors, we consider the long-term effects on future generations.
These four dimensions form the binding normative framework for all employees of acib GmbH, our strategic partner institutions, and all project participants, and serve as the basis for our internal ethics assessments.
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Ethics and Compliance in International Research Projects
As a preferred partner in global and European research programs (including Horizon Europe and the EIC), acib GmbH strictly aligns its project governance with the European Commission’s Ethics & Integrity Standards. We are fully committed to the principles of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA) as well as the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity. We view these requirements not as an administrative hurdle, but as an essential framework for risk minimization and building trust.
Our compliance process in international projects is structured in three stages and ensures seamless ethical support throughout the entire project cycle:
1 - Proactive Project Planning: Ethics by Design
We integrate the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as early as the proposal and conceptualization phase. This approach, shaped by the European Commission, calls for societal stakeholders (researchers, citizens, policymakers, and industry) to collaborate throughout the entire research and innovation process.
For acib, this means in concrete terms: We systematically anticipate societal and environmental impacts, reflect on ethical dimensions (especially regarding disruptive technologies such as synthetic biology or the use of AI), and involve relevant stakeholders in the discourse at an early stage. This culminates in a comprehensive and transparent Ethics Self-Assessment.
2 - Ongoing Compliance and Risk Management
During project implementation, we guarantee strict adherence to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and all relevant legal standards. Our focus areas include the following:
- Data Sovereignty & Privacy: Uncompromising compliance with the GDPR and the highest standards of data security when processing personal and sensitive research data.
- Biosafety & Biosecurity: Strict adherence to regulations regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), pathogenic microorganisms, and the dual-use potential (potential for misuse) of technologies.
- Human Rights & Inclusion: Ensuring non-discrimination, human dignity, and fair working conditions within research consortia and their supply chains.
- Environmental Protection & Sustainability: Compliance with strict environmental regulations and continuous assessment of the ecological footprints of our methods in accordance with the EU’s “Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle.
- Technological Integrity & AI Compliance: Ensuring transparent, bias-free, and ethically sound development and application processes when using artificial intelligence and advanced data models in research.
3 - Transparent Documentation and Review: Fulfillment of Ethics Requirements
For acib, ethics is a continuous and verifiable process that does not end with project approval. If ethical issues are identified during the initial Ethics Review by the European Commission or other funding agencies, we treat the resulting Ethics Requirements as binding, contractual milestones (Deliverables).
- We proactively prepare and submit all required risk analyses, data protection impact assessments, biosafety protocols, and regulatory approvals (e.g., for handling GMOs or sensitive data) in a timely manner.
- where methodologically necessary, we establish specific Ethics Advisory Boards (EAB) or Data Protection Boardsat the consortium level to continuously monitor research projects.
- we cooperate openly and fully with independent audits, Ethics Reviews, and Ethics Checks conducted by the European Commission (or external experts commissioned by it) during or after the project period.
Ethics Governance
To institutionally safeguard and continuously develop our high ethical standards, acib GmbH’s ethics governance is based on two central pillars: an established, independent Ethics Committee and a mandatory internal training program for all employees.
The acib Ethics Committee and External Expertise
As a central advisory and review body, our Ethics Committee proactively evaluates project-related issues and issues binding recommendations for management and the research teams. To ensure absolute objectivity and the highest methodological standards, the internal committee is supplemented by external expertise – including innovethic, which brings extensive experience in the areas of research ethics, Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI), and ethical science communication.
The Ethics Committee is mandatorily involved in project phases where:
- significant, immediate, or long-term impacts on the environment, biodiversity, or society are expected (consequential ethics).
- complex issues of biosafety, risk management (dual-use), or technological integrity (AI) arise.
- highly sensitive research data or radically new biotechnological methods are used.
- international funding programs (such as Horizon Europe) require an independent ethics assessment.
Internal Ethics Training Program
We believe that ethical awareness must not begin only when a committee reviews a project, but must be rooted in daily research work. For this reason, acib maintains an ongoing internal training program:
- Onboarding & Self-Learning: As part of their onboarding, all new team members complete dedicated self-learning modules on good scientific practice, RRI, and the acib ethics guidelines.
- Mandatory Continuing Education: Twice a year, mandatory online training sessions are held for all researchers and project managers. These address current ethical challenges in the bioeconomy, provide updates on EU compliance requirements, and raise awareness of “Ethics by Design”.
Reporting and Whistleblower Protection
To ensure compliance with our ethical standards at all times, acib promotes an open speak-up culture. Employees, partners, and external stakeholders are encouraged to immediately report concerns regarding potential ethical violations, scientific misconduct, or breaches of safety standards.
A confidential and secure reporting system (whistleblowing channel) is available for this purpose, which complies with the requirements of the EU Whistleblower Directive. Reports received are reviewed by the Ethics Committee in collaboration with management in strict confidence, objectively, and without risk of retaliation against the whistleblower.
In addition, the contact address research-integrity@acib.at is available for reports and questions.
acib sees sustainability as a central guiding principle that inextricably links ecological and social responsibility with the future viability of technology and industry. As an international research centre for industrial biotechnology, acib has a responsibility to shape scientific innovations in such a way that they address global challenges while securing the competitiveness of the location.
The bridging function of acib: public interest meets economic resilience
In a changing macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in which purely ecologically motivated investments (‘green premium’) are coming under increasing pressure from industry, acib takes a broader strategic view of the concept of sustainability. Ecological sustainability and economic resilience are not contradictory, but rather mutually dependent. Rather, true technological resilience can only be achieved through sustainable, circular and resource-efficient approaches.
acib plays an essential bridging role between society and the economy:
- Public interest: Society and the public sector – as manifested in funding guidelines and strategies such as the Green Deal – are rightly calling for decarbonisation, climate protection and the establishment of a circular economy.
- Economic resilience: Industry, on the other hand, urgently needs cost efficiency (OPEX reduction), security of supply and independence from volatile global energy and raw material markets in order to ensure its survival.
acib connects these worlds by developing biotechnological solutions that simultaneously fulfil both sets of objectives. The technological capability to utilise local biogenic residues fulfils the public interest in a circular economy and, at the same time, reduces companies’ dependence on fragile supply chains as an economic resilience measure. Similarly, the development of highly efficient bioprocesses serves the political goal of CO₂ reduction, while primarily representing a vital reduction in energy costs for industry. Sustainability is therefore not a fair-weather philosophy, but the technological foundation for economic sovereignty.
In order to build a measurable bridge between public interest and industrial reality, acib focuses its strategic research approaches on four interlocking core areas that translate sustainability into tangible location advantages:
- Circular Bio-Functionality: The establishment of highly scalable, bio-based circular economies that completely replace fossil fuel value chains and radically minimise raw material dependencies.
- Disruptive Bioeconomy: The development of completely new, often CO2- and low-energy-based production platforms that achieve sustainability not through expensive additional processes, but through fundamental process efficiency (cost down).
- Deep-Tech Sovereignty (including Dual-Use & Securitisation): Establishing biotechnological infrastructure as a system-critical security architecture (‘defence capability’) that enables Europe to produce essential goods such as medicines or critical materials locally, independently of global crisis hotspots.
- AI-driven biotechnology: The consistent linking of artificial intelligence with biological processes in order to drastically shorten development cycles for sustainable innovations and secure global competitiveness in the high-tech sector.
By focusing its strategic research on highly relevant, industry-oriented priorities, acib ensures that sustainability does not remain a theoretical declaration of intent, but manifests itself in scalable and investment-safe technologies. This orientation enables the centre to act as a driving force for industrial transformation. However, in order to accurately map and evaluate the impact of this orientation not only technologically but also in accordance with current global reporting standards, it is necessary to position it very precisely within the international target framework.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and mission budgeting
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the normative global framework. However, since the SDGs were primarily conceived from the perspective of traditional development aid and securing global basic needs, they often fall short or remain abstract at their highest level for European cutting-edge research.
In order to avoid ‘sustainability washing’ and to act in a meaningful and control-relevant manner as a high-tech centre, acib breaks down the goals to the sub-goal level (targets). In addition, acib has established an innovative mission budgeting approach in its COMET research programme: the relevance of research projects is assessed directly according to their intensity and budget allocation for achieving the following central SDGs and sub-goals
- SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being): Sub-goal 3.b (Research and development of vaccines and medicines). acib develops highly efficient production platforms for biopharmaceuticals that combine pandemic preparedness (public interest) with industrial scalability.
- SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): Sub-goal 8.2 (Economic productivity through innovation). One of acib’s core competencies – increasing the efficiency and upscaling of bioprocesses – decouples ecological growth from environmental degradation and secures sustainable, high-quality jobs at the site.
- SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure): Sub-goal 9.4 (Sustainable retrofitting of industries) and 9.5 (Research & Innovation). The establishment of next-generation biomanufacturing and resource-saving ‘clean technologies’ retrofits existing chemical and pharmaceutical plants and strengthens the industrial base in Europe.
- SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption & Production): Sub-goal 12.2 (Sustainable Resource Management) & 12.4 (Chemical Management). Establishment of circular value chains, for example by reducing food waste (‘Waste Generation’) and replacing toxic reagents with enzymatic and bio-based processes.
- SDG 13 (Climate Action): Measurable contributions to operational decarbonisation and mitigation of climate-related impacts (‘Climate Action’) through the transfer from fossil-based to bio-based value chains.
Alignment with national RTI goals and RTD parameters
The international orientation via the SDGs is closely linked to the strategic goals of the national RTI Strategy 2030 and the Federal Government’s RTI Pact. In order to make the actual impact of the research programme systematically controllable and evaluable in line with national guidelines, acib is guided by the following five central RTD parameters:
- Academic Research: Sustainability needs excellence as its foundation. The aim is to generate a high scientific impact through basic research, laying the technological basis for future industrial applications in biotechnology.
- Industrial Research: As a central innovation hub (acib’s USP), the centre transfers technological breakthroughs directly into the economy. The aim is to increase the innovation intensity of corporate partners – especially SMEs and start-ups – and to measurably increase their research performance in the field of sustainability.
- Research Efficiency: Efficiency here means achieving a high level of ‘usability’ (applicability) of the results for corporate partners, which directly leads to an increase in industrial R&D expenditure. This also includes leveraging know-how for the rapid establishment of spin-offs (e.g. via the BREED programme).
- Research Effectivity: This is the direct impact parameter for sustainability: it measures how much the research programme actually contributes to quality of life, increasing resource productivity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving global health.
- International Integration: Recruiting international specialists (spin-in programmes) and establishing a global partner network will greatly enhance the visibility and resilience of Austria as a centre of research and business.
These five parameters also form the foundation for the operational and successful implementation of the priority objectives of the RTI Pact, such as promoting technological sovereignty, the sustainable transformation of the economy, and strengthening trust in science through active public engagement.
European and national policies as drivers of resilience
acib firmly anchors its research in the strategic frameworks of the EU and Austria, but does not view these regulations as a bureaucratic end in themselves, but rather as instruments of technological independence and resilience. The evaluation of project contributions is based on the following key strategic dimensions
- European Green Deal & Bioeconomy Strategy: Biotechnology acts as a direct enabler to make the ambitious goals in the areas of plastics, circular economy (‘Circular Economy Action Plan’) and ‘zero pollution’ industrially feasible and scalable in the first place.
- Net-Zero Industry Act & Clean Industrial Deal: acib provides the key technologies (e.g. CO₂ utilisation as a raw material) to actively accelerate and secure the transformation of leading European industries towards climate-neutral and resource-efficient value chains.
- Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability: Through the development of biocatalytic and highly selective synthesis pathways, research is making a direct contribution to the drastic reduction of hazardous, toxic substances (‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’).
- European economic security strategy & Critical Raw Materials Act: By building regional biomanufacturing capacities and utilising local biogenic residues, acib reduces Europe’s dependence on fossil imports and critical global supply chains, thereby strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy (‘Preparedness’).
- CSRD and EU Taxonomy Regulation: Through accompanying ecological assessments, life cycle analyses (LCA) and tailor-made Green Metrics, acib directly supports industrial partners in disclosing the taxonomy compliance of their processes in a data-based and verifiable manner. This makes sustainability financeable and creates investment security in times of closed capital markets.
- Circular Economy Act & National Climate and Energy Strategy (mission2030): Technological developments directly support Austrian plans to reduce raw material consumption and systematically establish closed material cycles at the national level
By proactively embedding itself in these European and national policy frameworks, acib ensures that its research projects do not remain isolated in the laboratory, but contribute structurally to future industrial and regulatory standards. The ability to formulate technological responses to political requirements from complex biological systems makes acib a strategic navigator for European industry. However, in order to credibly underpin this claim to influence in the long term, this sustainable philosophy must also be unconditionally lived out in its own sphere of influence – in its handling of biological resources and in its internal governance.
Comprehensive impact thinking as a management tool
In order to meet the complex requirements of sustainability and economic resilience, acib is moving away from one-dimensional success metrics (such as pure publication or revenue growth). Instead, sustainability is operationalised through a comprehensive, multidimensional impact approach. This framework serves as an internal control instrument for evaluating and prioritising projects and ensures that technological developments are effective across the board.
- Social benefit: Projects must demonstrate a clear link to pressing challenges (climate, resources, health) and offer concrete solutions. Relevance to stakeholders as well as inclusion and participation (e.g. in the context of citizen science) ensure that research does not ignore social realities.
- Legitimacy of public funding: As a centre operating at the interface between academia and industry, acib demonstrates the value of public investment through an excellent cost-benefit ratio. A clear focus on transfer ensures that public funds flow into applicable technologies that serve the common good and the business location.
- Economic potential & exploitation: True sustainability must prove itself on the market. Impact is measured by the generation of new circular business models (‘value creation’), the optimisation and increased efficiency of existing industrial processes, the achievement of investment readiness for scale-ups, and the measurable strengthening of European competitiveness.
- Political & social impact: acib sees itself as a catalyst. The research results are intended to serve as a basis for evidence-based policy advice, rule-setting (norms/standards) and awareness-raising in public discourse.
- Sustainability & future viability: Each project is assessed for its long-term sustainability potential. The focus is on the temporal impact perspective, the resilience of the developed systems, and their scalability and transferability to other industries. In addition, the evaluation is carried out strictly in accordance with the European ‘Do No Significant Harm’ (DNSH) principle to ensure that ecological progress in one area does not come at the expense of other environmental goals.
- Publicability & dissemination: Impact can only be achieved through visibility. The comprehensibility of the research, a high potential for resonance in leading media, and connectivity for downstream actors (actor uptake) are essential metrics for reducing scepticism about science and creating technological acceptance.
Through this structured impact grid, acib guarantees that innovations are not only technologically brilliant, but also leave a resilient, legitimate and socially and economically highly relevant footprint (‘Sustainable Exploitation of Research Achievements’) in their entirety.
Sustainability and impact as a governance principle
The strategic alignment of the research portfolio with SDGs, FTI goals and the multidimensional impact grid requires these principles to be firmly anchored in acib’s organisational governance. Sustainability is not an isolated discipline here, but shapes the centre’s operational activities and services at all levels.
To ensure that the desired balance between public interest and economic resilience is systematically pursued, acib does not rely on downstream analyses. Instead, life cycle assessments (LCA) and impact assessments are continuously implemented as an integral part of new and existing projects in the form of agile ‘sustainability health checks’. Through this consistent application, acib has built up expertise that is recognised throughout Europe: the performance of specialised LCAs, techno-economic analyses (TEA) and well-founded sustainability assessments is no longer used only internally, but is increasingly offered and implemented as a highly sought-after, dedicated work package in large EU joint projects and as an independent strategic service for industry partners. This principle of maximum efficiency is also reflected in the structural organisation of the centre:
- Synergy through integration: Instead of constructing its own energy- and space-intensive research buildings, acib is directly integrated into the infrastructure of its partner universities. This ‘shared resource’ strategy drastically minimises its own ecological footprint and ensures highly efficient, cross-location use of resources.
- Operational ecology: acib pursues a radically paperless ‘digital first’ strategy in its administration and project management. Consistently efficient travel management that prioritises virtual meetings and online collaboration systematically reduces Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
- Sustainable procurement: In order to also control indirect (Scope 3) emissions, acib promotes a sustainable procurement strategy. This includes prioritising environmentally friendly laboratory consumables and working with suppliers who can demonstrate transparent ESG standards.
- Social governance: Sustainable corporate management is complemented by a clear commitment to diversity, inclusion and excellent training conditions.
By applying the highest standards of governance, resource efficiency and pragmatic impact measurement internally, acib closes the circle of its strategy: it acts as a role model itself and thus remains a reliable, resilient partner for the sustainable transformation of the economy and society.
As an Austrian, internationally oriented centre of excellence in the field of industrial biotechnology, acib sees biological diversity not only as an environment worth protecting, but also as a fundamental model for a sustainable industry.
Since we work together with academic partners and industry at the interface between basic research and industrial application, we bear a special responsibility for treating our planet’s resources with respect. Our research uses the principles of nature – from microorganisms and enzymes to complex biological processes – to make industrial processes fundamentally more sustainable and environmentally friendly through genuine circular economy.
At the same time, we are aware that the research and use of these biological building blocks requires clear ethical and legal guidelines. The diversity of life is the basis of our innovations. Therefore, the equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, as provided for in the Nagoya Protocol, is not only a regulatory obligation for us, but also an essential part of an ethical and globally responsible research culture – regardless of whether we work with domestic biological resources from Austria or access global biodiversity through international collaborations.
Active protection through applied research
Our deep respect for natural resources is reflected in our core mission. The biotechnological research conducted by acib makes a direct and measurable contribution to relieving the burden on global ecosystems. Precisely because intact habitats and the genetic resources they contain form the basis of our work, we develop bio-based technologies that significantly reduce the pressure on natural biodiversity:
- Resource transition: The switch from fossil fuels to renewable raw materials reduces destructive resource extraction.
- Pollutant avoidance: The establishment of environmentally friendly biocatalysts replaces toxic chemical processes and thus protects natural habitats from contamination.
- Circular economy: Through the targeted biotechnological upgrading of industrial waste streams, we minimise land consumption and promote closed material cycles.
In this way, active protection (What do we do?) fits organically into the overall picture of responsibility (How do we deal with resources?).
Binding standards for genetic resources
Access to genetic resources requires the highest scientific integrity and legal diligence. The acib is committed to the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol and implements them in a binding manner in all relevant research activities. We ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) No 511/2014through a combination of contractual obligations, project specifications and internal guidelines.
For acib, this means in particular when dealing with genetic resources:
- Lawful access to genetic resources from other countries, including compliance with national access regulations.
- Comprehensive documentation and evidence of the origin, use and transfer of genetic resources along the entire value chain.
- Contractual agreements on fair and equitable benefit sharing (Mutually Agreed Terms, MAT) with countries of origin or rights holders.
- Compliance with due diligence obligations in accordance with EU Regulation 511/2014, including regular internal reviews and, if necessary, reports to the competent authorities.
acib has established internal processes to ensure that all research projects using genetic resources are reviewed at an early stage for their relevance to Nagoya and documented accordingly; These include standardised workflows, checklists, training courses and internal compliance monitoring, which is continuously adapted to new regulatory developments.
Concrete implementation in research practice
In order to ensure the lawful procurement and use of biological materials, concrete safeguards are in place in our everyday research work. In doing so, we rely on the leverage of our international project landscape:
- Funding requirements in EU projects: When carrying out publicly funded research projects (e.g. Horizon Europe), we consistently implement the strict biodiversity and ethical requirements of the funding bodies and anchor due diligence obligations in project management.
- Contractual safeguards: We strictly require our partners in science and industry to comply with the Nagoya Guidelines and to provide the necessary proof of origin, for example through standardised consortium agreements or material transfer agreements (MTAs).
- Ongoing process optimisation: We continuously train our research teams in the handling of genetic resources and are constantly expanding our internal documentation and screening processes in order to meet the dynamic requirements of global supply chains.
In this way, acib ensures that biodiversity protection, legal compliance and scientific excellence are inextricably linked. Through the consistent implementation of the Nagoya requirements and EU Regulation 511/2014, we assume responsibility along the entire value chain – from sampling to industrial application – and position ourselves as a reliable partner for globally responsible, transparent and sustainable biotechnology that actively minimises legal and reputational risks in its projects.