The 15th Global Summit on Regulatory Science 2025 (GSRS25) took place from 15–17 September 2025 in Lausanne, Switzerland. This year’s conference brought together more than 200 scientists to exchange their experiences and insights on the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in regulatory science, for building a strong regulatory science with tomorrow’s technologies.

Representing the SSbD4CheM project, Barry Hardy (Edelweiss Connect) presented a poster showcasing the project’s work on developing a robust knowledge infrastructure. The poster, titled “FAIR Knowledge Infrastructure for Next Generation Risk Assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows: Enabling High-Integrity Evidence Generation for Regulatory Submissions Including New Approach Method Results”, highlighted how FAIR data principles can support next-generation risk assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design approaches. The poster introduced a FAIR knowledge infrastructure that integrates NAMs data, mechanistic insights, and harmonized workflows to generate transparent, traceable, and regulatory-grade evidence. It supports NGRA and SSbD through knowledge graphs, standardized data, and AI-ready structures, enabling robust assessments, improved data reuse, and compliance with evolving regulatory expectations.

The participation in GSRS25 offered an excellent opportunity to engage with regulatory scientists and foster new interactions relevant to the project’s goals.

The poster programme is available here.

The 13th edition of the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC13) took place from 31 August to 4 September 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This major international event brought together around 2,000 participants from academia, industry, innovation communities, and other stakeholder groups. Over five days, attendees took part in 141 sessions organised across five main themes: One Health, Human Health, Animal Health, Environmental Health, and Education.

Representing the SSbD4CheM project, Barry Hardy and Connor Hardy (Edelweiss Connect) participated in the congress. Barry Hardy delivered two oral presentations on AI in risk assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) on 1 September, in Session 132 (“Application of New Approach Methods in the Safe and Sustainable Design of Innovative Products”) and Session 20 (“Artificial Intelligence to reduce and replace animal testing”). He also chaired the Session 132.

The presentations were titled:

• “AI-assisted Next Generation Risk Assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows enabled by FAIR Data and Knowledge”
• “Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows supporting Product Design and Decision Making”

The congress offered a valuable opportunity to identify potential new collaborations and to disseminate the work carried out within the SSbD4CheM project.

The conference agenda is available here.

On March 13, 2025, Wood K plus took part in the  KC Fachtagung [Conference on Materials] – Focus on Fiber Composites held in Linz, Austria. The event, organized by the Upper Austrian cross-sectional network of the industrial plastics sector (Business Upper Austria), brought together approximately 40 industry stakeholders to discuss the latest developments and applications of fiber-reinforced plastics.

This year’s conference explored a wide spectrum of materials and their forward-looking applications, ranging from mobility and construction to other sectors where fiber-reinforced composites are essential. Key topics included recyclability, design for recycling, and the integration of recycled and bio-based raw materials. Experts from both industry and research institutions presented new insights and visions aimed at driving sustainable and innovative use of fiber-reinforced composites in relevant sectors.

Our colleague Dr. Claudia Pretschuh from Wood K plus contributed to the conference with an oral presentation on “Developments in the Area of Fiber-Based Composites by Using Natural Fibers”. The presentation highlighted key developments from the automotive case study of the SSbD4CheM project, which specifically targets the development of composites reinforced with natural fibers, cellulose fibers, and wood particles for use in automotive interior applications, and focuses on the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles.

Dr. Pretschuh outlined the SSbD approach followed by the project, emphasizing several steps such as:

• Step 3 – Safety aspects: Addressing safety aspects related to the use phase, with a particular focus on volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from automotive interior materials.
• Step 4 – Sustainability aspects: The sustainability dimension is taken into account through a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, in collaboration with the University of Leiden, also partner in the project.

Additionally, foam injection molding was presented as a potential solution for creating ultra-lightweight thermoplastic compounds. 

The event provided an excellent platform for networking and exchanging perspectives. Following the presentation, Wood K plus engaged in discussions with Magna Powertrain regarding the potential of natural fiber-based composites. Magna expressed interest in further material testing, simulations, and results from ongoing LCA studies. Additionally, future discussions are planned with Borealis to explore material applications and LCA aspects further.

Participation in this conference underscores Wood K plus’s commitment to advancing sustainable material solutions in the automotive sector and beyond.