Stefaan De Rynck, Head of the European Commission Representation in Belgium: “With NextGenerationEU, the European Union and its member countries are investing together in the Europe of tomorrow. Our support to the EU Biotech Campus will help attract and train talent, which will lead to new economic opportunities for the region. The Commission fully supports the Belgian Recovery Plan which aims, among other things, to boost the labour market through investment and reform, the two key pillars for the success of NextGenerationEU.”
Training and digitalization
The EU Biotech Campus will occupy almost 5,000 m² of BIOTECH 5, a brand new 25,000 m² building, including 10,000 m² of laboratory space. The Campus aims to serve as an open platform that will host a diversity of training providers who will offer employees, job seekers, students and teachers, several training programs in new biomanufacturing technologies, with a particular focus on the digitalization and automation of biomanufacturing processes.
The EU Biotech Campus will also offer a variety of STEM-activities (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) applied to the field of biotechnology, to familiarize schools and the general public with new scientific and technological approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases, and to introduce them to the region’s skills in innovation and bioproduction. Finally, there will be a dedicated training offer for managers in the sector on the different skills they need to run and successfully upscale biotech businesses.
The EU Biotech Campus, a 25 million euros project, is scheduled to open in 2025-2026.