From Crop Residues to Bioeconomy Resources: A Systematic Review of Barriers to Sustainable Biomass Utilisation
- Beschreibung
This project investigates why agricultural crop residues—such as straw, stalks, and husks—remain underutilised despite strong European bioeconomy policies promoting their use for renewable energy, bioplastics, and bio-based chemicals. Through a systematic literature review, student teams will identify scientific evidence on barriers across the biomass value chain, including policy assumptions, supply chain challenges, farmer decision-making, and institutional coordination.
Students will screen literature, summarise findings in structured research notes, and synthesise results to generate insights and recommendations. The final output will include a poster and abstract suitable for the Humboldt reloaded annual conference.
- Beschreibung des interdisziplinären Teils des Projekts
- Agricultural crop residues are abundant but often treated as waste or burned, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Although bioeconomy strategies in the European Union and other regions prioritise biomass use, many residues remain unused. This project explores this gap by analysing scientific literature across multiple disciplines, including agricultural science, supply chain management, environmental policy, and sustainability studies. Students will work in teams to screen article titles and abstracts for relevance to crop residues, bioeconomy value chains, governance, and farm-level management; extract key information from selected studies (research topic, methods, findings, identified barriers, and policy implications); and, synthesize findings to address the central research question and produce a structured review. This project supports students in developing systematic review skills, academic analysis, and scientific communication.
- Projektzeitraum
- Sommersemester 2026
- Bewerbungszeitraum
- 07. bis 20.04.2026
- Durchführung
- semesterbegleitend
- Details zu Projektzeitraum und Durchführung
The project will apply a systematic literature review approach. First, a systematic screening of the literature will be conducted using clearly defined inclusion criteria. Subsequently, selected papers will be analysed in detail, and structured research notes will be prepared for each article. The findings will then be synthesised and interpreted in order to identify cross-cutting barriers and opportunities related to crop residue utilisation in the bioeconomy. The results of the project will be presented in the form of an abstract and a poster for submission to the Humboldt reloaded conference.
Participating students will learn how to conduct a systematic literature review and how to organise and manage academic sources effectively. They will develop skills in critically analysing scientific literature and in summarising research findings in structured research notes. In addition, they will gain experience in presenting scientific results in the form of a poster. These competencies are directly applicable to future Bachelor’s or Master’s theses in the fields of sustainability, bioeconomy, agricultural policy, and related disciplines.
The project will involve 2–5 students and encourages collaborative teamwork. Each student is expected to contribute approximately 120 hours of work, corresponding to around 4 ECTS credits. The project is interdisciplinary in nature and falls under the category as it integrates perspectives from agriculture, policy, and sustainability. The final outputs of the project will include an abstract and a poster, which will be presented at the Humboldt reloaded annual event.
Students will receive guidance in literature search strategies, systematic review methodologies, and academic writing throughout the project. Regular meetings and check-ins will be held to monitor progress, provide feedback, and support the integration and synthesis of research findings.
- Studienfach
- offen für alle Studienfächer
- Betreuende
- Dr. Qirui Li
- Institut
- Institut für Sozialwissenschaften des Agrarbereichs (430) (430a)
- Sprache
- englisch
- Teilnehmendenanzahl
-
min. 1, max. 5
(2 Kleingruppen mit max. 2 Teilnehmenden ) - Arbeitsaufwand
-
ca. 120 Stunden pro Teilnehmende:r
| 4
ECTS-Punkte
Arbeitsaufwand (Stunden und ggf. ECTS) sind ungefähre Angaben. Die tatsächlich vergebenen ECTS-Punkte ergeben sich aus der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeit.
- Für dieses Projekt ist kein Motivationsschreiben des Studierenden erforderlich
- Projektart
- empirisch
- Lernziele
-
Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:
Participating students will learn how to conduct a systematic literature review and how to organise and manage academic sources effectively. They will develop skills in critically analysing scientific literature and in summarising research findings in structured research notes. In addition, they will gain experience in presenting scientific results in the form of a poster. These competencies are directly applicable to future Bachelor’s or Master’s theses in the fields of sustainability, bioeconomy, agricultural policy, and related disciplines.
Students will receive guidance in literature search strategies, systematic review methodologies, and academic writing throughout the project. Regular meetings and check-ins will be held to monitor progress, provide feedback, and support the integration and synthesis of research findings.
- Anmerkungen für Studierende
Students should be interested in sustainability, agriculture, or bioeconomy-related topics and be motivated to work with scientific literature. No prior experience with systematic literature reviews is required, as all necessary methods will be introduced during the project.
- Schlagworte
- Transformation