| Training News February 2004 |
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A free e-mail news service provided by AquaTT on European Education & Training in Aquaculture
Please submit any relevant information for dissemination in the newsletter to news@aquatt.ie
EDUCATION
1. Student Workshop 2004, 19-22nd May 2004– Deadline for Applications 19th March
2. Postdoctoral Fellowships on Marine Plankton Available
3. e-Aqua - Analysis penetration of ICT and promotion of e-commerce within the SMEs belonging to the aquaculture strategic sector of the Atlantic area
COLLABORATION
4. New Large Scale Experimental Aquaculture Facility Planned – Support wanted
5. SEAFOODplus promises safer, healthier, and better seafood products
ANNOUNCEMENTS
6. Aquaculture Europe 2004 - Biotechnologies for Quality, Barcelona, Spain, October 20-23rd, 2004
7. ESSTO to Host Traceability Conference in Glasgow, UK, 20th May 2004
8. Oceanology International, London, UK16-19th March 2004
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EDUCATION
1. Student Workshop 2004, 19-22nd May 2004– Deadline for Applications 19th March
More information, application forms, press release and poster available at www.piscestt.com
Background
The Aquaculture Student Workshop is a new event for European Aquaculture students. The event is organised by AquaTT in collaboration with Fish Farming International, GentUniversityand Aqualex Multimedia Consortium (AMC).
AquaTT launched this initiative to create an event specifically for European aquaculture students where they could;
1. Gain exposure to and discuss the perspectives of leading experts in an informal setting
2. Learn complimentary skills that are important for work in the future aquaculture industry
3. Meet and network with other students and colleagues from Europe
4. Interact with industry members through an international tradeshow and fieldtrip
Objectives
The workshop is an innovative event developed to compliment participants’ current study. Leading experts will stimulate informal debate through talks on current and future state of play of the industry. Participants will also learn about support skills that will help their career development (oral presentation skills, scientific papers, networking etc). A role play module, where groups of participants act as stakeholders, will bring together all of the above.
Timetable
Wednesday 19th - Participants arrive (pm) and welcome event
Thursday 20th – Workshop and tradeshow
Friday 21st – Workshop and tradeshow + social event
Saturday 22nd – Excursion (optional)
Sunday 23rd – Participants depart
Target Group
Any student currently studying or a recent graduate of a course in aquaculture may apply.
However, students studying for Masters qualifications in Aquaculture sciences or recently qualified within the last 18 months are the target participants for the workshop and will be given priority.
The number of participants is limited to 44.
The official language of the workshop is English (applicants may be asked to provide evidence of their level of English)
Other applicants may apply but it is expected that the event will be oversubscribed.
Registration
Registration for the event is €75 and is non-refundable upon acceptance to the workshop.
The 1st event has obtained funding from the Directorate General Fisheries, European Commission and there is the possibility for eligible participants to receive up to 90% of costs covered through a grant. At a minimum costs covered will include workshop participation, international travel, field trip and shared accommodation
It is expected that participants will have to cover other personal costs related to attending the workshop.
Eligible participants are candidates studying an Aquaculture Masters in the European community, candidate or EFTA country. For a full list of eligible countries consult the piscestt website.
Non-eligible candidates may also apply to participate, but if selected no costs will be covered. The Application Form can be downloaded from the PISCES website www.piscestt.com
All applications must be submitted by e-mail or fax to AquaTT:
E-mail: aquatt@aquatt.ie
Fax : +353 1 644 9009
The following information is required and must be submitted by the deadline:
·Completed application form
·Letter of recommendation from lecturer/ professor
Deadline for Applications is Friday 19th March 18.00 hrs
Participants will be notified by e-mail of the result of their application by the 26th March
Selection Criteria:
Priority and grants will be given to candidates that meet the following criteria;
- Currently studying for a Masters qualification in aquaculture (or equivalent, see application form for more information)
- Completed a Aquaculture Masters (or equivalent) within the last 18 months
Each geographical region of Europehas a quota for participants. Should the organisers receive more eligible applications than the number of available spaces per geographic region a blind lottery draw will be carried out. Any places arising from unfilled quotas will be entered into a final lottery to fill the final places.
The intention is to have a broad geographical representation present. The organisers decision is final.
Organisation
AquaTT
P.O.Box 8989, Dublin2, Ireland
Phone : +353 1 644 9008
Fax : +353 1 644 9009
For questions contact us at aquatt@aquatt.ie
2. Postdoctoral Fellowships on Marine Plankton Available
If you are pursuing doctoral studies dealing with marine plankton, you have the chance to study and work at the Marie Curie Planktosite in Trondheim, Norway. The fellowships, granted by the European Commission, offer the opportunity to spend a period of 3 - 12 months at the Training Site.
A highly dynamic research team, involved in international and multidisciplinary projects, is responsible for training. Upon application, your own supervisor in Trondheimwill guide you through the experiments that are relevant for your PhD. The prioritised topics are all highly relevant for the development of a sustainable marine environment, such as:
- analysis of the states of ecosystems
- biomass and flux measurements
- ecosystem modelling
- resource and environmental management
- exploitation and cultivation of marine plankton, including marine fish larviculture and live feed technology for fish larvae
The grant includes a return ticket, a subsistence fee of 1200 euro/month and free access to the installations needed. Further information as well as the application form can be found at our web site:
www.ntnu.no/planktosite/. Applications can be sent to the address below at any time (open call). The period between submission of the proposal and the planned arrival should at least be 3 months. Note: there are still fellowships available for 2004 and 2005! Contacts: Prof. Yngvar Olsen, Planktosite manager; Alexandra Neyts, Planktosite coordinator
3.e-Aqua - Analysis penetration of ICT and promotion of e-commerce within the SMEs belonging to the aquaculture strategic sector of the Atlantic area
The aquaculture sector has become one of the most important economic sectors for the Atlantic Area and has to remain competitive with its competitors inAsia. One of the ways to ensure this is through the use of ICT tools, which help companies meet the requirements of the Food industry market. ICT used in a logical way for sustainable aquaculture will contribute to the competitiveness of aquaculture companies in the Atlantic areas.
e-Aqua is a project, co-financed by the EC Programme Interreg III B “Atlantic area”, that has as main objective to encourage the use of ICT and e-commerce by all the economic players of the aquaculture specific sector, according to the following three coordinated steps:
1- Observatory:Analysis of ICT penetration and usage in the aquaculture sector of the Atlantic area. In this first stage, a research about the current status and possibilities of developing e-commerce in the Atlantic aquaculture sector will be developed. The aim is to gain reliable knowledge of the degree to which Internet and e-commerce have been deployed by SMEs and are operative in the participating Atlantic regions.
2- Training:According to the outcome of the previous research, structured training courses and/or seminars will be organised. Depending on the research results of the first step, course programs will be specifically adapted to satisfy the current aquaculture SMEs requirements with regards to e-commerce and main ICT issues.
3- ICT Consultancy:Feasibility assessment for the implementation of e-commerce in a precise number of Atlantic regional SMEs.
The European based consortium consists of a number of institutional and commercial partners of four Atlantic regions Galicia-Spain, Brittany -France, Ireland, and Scotland-UK where the aquaculture sector is considered as a strategic one within their regional economies and within the Atlantic area as a whole. The three phases of the project will be developed within the participating four different Atlantic regions in a co-ordinated way, following the same common methodology but taking into account special particularities of the analysed sector in each region.
e-Aqua project started in November 2003 and will be completed in April 2005. The Lead Partner is CETMAR-Centro Tecnológico del Mar (Spain). For more information, please contact: Rosa Chapela Pérez at e-mail rchapela@cetmar.org; Tel: 00 34 986 24 70 47
COLLABORATION
4. New Large Scale Experimental Aquaculture Facility Planned
The NorwegianUniversityof Science and Technology and SINTEF, are intending to establish a new large-scale experimental facility in Middle-Norway that will address the unmet needs in the aquaculture sector. This centre would provide opportunities to develop, test and improve equipment, instruments and cultivation methods in a full-scale situation.
It would facilitate research dealing with new species, new environments, new technology or new production techniques that can lead to a cost-efficient and sustainable aquaculture. As a meeting place between technology, biology and ecology, the goal is to seek for technical solutions with direct or indirect biological effects. The infrastructure to be constructed will be complementary to the pool of facilities currently existing.
Some of the research areas the new infrastructure aims to focus on are:
- Efficient and competitive aquaculture production in sea
- Impact of intensive aquaculture on the marine environment
- Fish welfare (interaction technology / biology)
- Automatic control of flexible structures
- Biological design criteria's for aquaculture constructions
- Fouling and anti-fouling
- Best practice - husbandry on exposed locations
- Materials technology
- Verification of physically modelling methods (hydrodynamical and structural)
- Product design and innovation in aquaculture
- Safety for humans in aquaculture production
- Technology for secure seafood production
As we wish to make the infrastructure accessible for your research group in order to carry out the experiments that you find significant, we would appreciate your help in defining the type of facilities that would meet your needs in a best possible way.
A proposal for a design study will be submitted to the European Commission. This study has the intention to map the needs of the aquaculture community and to work together to design an infrastructure meeting those needs.
As the study aims to represent the point of view of the majority of aquaculture institutes, we would appreciate your cooperation. Please express your interest by sending me your contact details before 5th March. By submitting an expression of interest, you can influence the design of the infrastructure in an active way, but it is in no way binding. If this message would be relevant for your colleagues at other institutes, we would be grateful if you could forward it to them.
If you have further questions or if you wish to know more about the plans for the infrastructure contact: Alexandra Neyts; Leif Magne Sunde at NTNU, Instituteof Biology, Trondhjem Biological Station, 7491 Trondheim
Norway, tel: (+47) 73 59 15 96 fax: (+47) 73 59 15 97 E-mail: alexandra.neyts@bio.ntnu.no, www.ntnu.no/trondheim-marine-RI / www.ntnu.no/planktosite
The research will not be carried out in isolation but in close collaboration with a number of commercial enterprises. According to Director Christian Patermann, Directorate E, Biotechnology Agriculture and Food Research, fifteen percent of the funds that are being supplied by the EU will go to small and medium-sized enterprises.
SEAFOODplus also takes account the limited fisheries resources by focusing on better utilization of seafood. The project will be instrumental in creating new knowledge and novel products enabling the seafood industry to maximise the proper and economic utilisation of scarce fisheries resources. There may also be opportunities to utilise untapped potential without increasing fishing pressure, by research into functional components for food from marine life.
At the official project launch in Brusselsat the end of January co-ordinators of the six broad topic areas into which SEAFOODplus is divided outlined the essential content of the planned research. The seafood and consumption section, for example, will investigate the health effects that fish proteins have on the composition and metabolic activity of intestinal flora. This knowledge could be used in the prevention of cancer and inflammation of the intestine. Investigations will also be carried out to find out how Omega 3 fatty acids affect the bowel, brain, heart, skeleton and fatty tissue.
Under the topic seafood and consumer behaviour, researchers will try to find out why there are such big differences in seafood consumption in the individual regions of Europe. Which factors influence consumption? What is particularly important to consumers? In the context of seafood safety scientists will develop quick, reliable methods of testing for viral contamination of mussels and other shellfish. The aim is to protect consumers more effectively from gastrointestinal disorders or hepatitis A. In another topic complex the researchers will examine the factors that influence product quality during processing. Which chemical processes, for example, are responsible for fat oxidation in fish and how can the process by which foods become rancid be prevented? Another major topic is aquaculture, where the focus will not only be on improved quality and different methods but equally on ethical issues and the development of new standards.
Traceability and consumer confidence will be examined across the topic areas and take into account EU requirements for product information to be fully traceable from fisherman to retailer as from 2005.
For further information contact:
Prof. Torger Boerresen
Danish Institute for Fisheries Research
Tel.: +45 4525 2577
Fax: +45 4588 4774
Email: tb@dfu.min.dk
Website: www.seafoodplus.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS
6. Aquaculture Europe 2004 - Biotechnologies for Quality, Barcelona, Spain, October 20-23rd, 2004
From October 20-23, 2004, Barcelona (Spain) will be the meeting place for the Aquaculture Europe 2004 conference on "Biotechnologies for Quality” with a one-day workshop on "Challenges in Mediterranean Aquaculture Products", October 20, 2004
Preceding the conference, on October 20, a workshop on "Challenges for Mediterranean Aquaculture Products" will take place. This event is organised by the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) in joint cooperation with The European Association of Marine Biotechnology (ESMB) and the European Association of Fish Pathologists (EAFP). It furthermore enjoys the moral support of some major Aquaculture Societies in Europe.
Food quality and safety is a high priority in Europe and worldwide, and aquaculture must play its role in providing safe, high-quality, health-promoting seafood through safe and environmentally friendly production methods, based upon scientific advances in plant and animal science and biotechnologies, including the application of genomics.
AE2004 "Biotechnologies for Quality" wants to provide an open forum on recent advances in different biotechnologies and their impact on the
improvement and guarantee of seafood quality. It wants to be a most interesting meeting place for the aquaculture sector to increase knowledge,
exchange ideas and draw conclusions on the challenges required for the present and future.
Aquaculture Europe 2004 will be organised through plenary thematic sessions addressing the role of biotechnology in areas of production and quality, health management, quality of fish as food and the development of bioactive products from aquaculture.
The parallel and poster sessions will focus on topics including geneticsand reproduction; production of larvae and juveniles; ongrowing; rapid health detection methods; vaccines; health management, consumer satisfaction and health benefits; safety and traceability and bioactive products through aquaculture, as well as other challenges for aquaculture development.
Full details, including call for contributions (deadline March 15), registration form, etc. can be obtained from http://www.easonline.org/agenda/en/AquaEuro2004/default.asp
A paper version of the 1st announcement can be obtained by sending request to ae2004@aquaculture.cc
The meeting will be hosted at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), in the beautiful Spanish city of Barcelona. Capital city of
Catalonia, Barcelona's location on the shores of the Mediterraneanmeans that it enjoys a warm, welcoming climate and pleasant temperatures all year round. Adding to reasons for participating in the Barcelonaevent.
Right now we look forward to receiving many interesting spontaneous contributions and to having pleasure of welcoming many in Spainthis October.
More information at www.easonline.org or at ae2004@aquaculture.cc or by fax on +32 59 32 10 05.
7. ESSTO to Host Traceability Conference in Glasgow, UK, 20th May 2004
The European Seafood Safety and Traceability Organisation (ESSTO) is organising a one day conference to coincide with Fishing 2004 and Aquaculture 2004 to be held in the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, Scotlandfrom 19th-22nd May. Seafish Industry Authority and Bord Iascaigh Mhara (Irish Sea Fisheries Board) are the main conference sponsors. The Conference will be held on Thursday 20th May which is the first day that both exhibitions will be running. This conference will be free and open to anyone who has resistered at either of the exhibitions. The overall aim of the conference is to give attendees an overall view of what is involved in traceability. The conference will have sessions which will deal with the following subjects which cover traceability from point of catch or farming to point of sale.
1. Traceability at Sea
2. First Landing - First sale
3. Traceability in Aquaculture
4. From processor to consumer
5. Transparency in Traceability
The conference also hopes to give a summary of current EU research projects on the subject. ESSTO is currently organising speakers for the conference and hopes to have a full programme available in late February.
The European Seafood Safety and Traceability Organisation has already arranged speakers Seafish, BIM, SEAFOODplus, European Association of Fish Port Auctions (EAFPA), C-Trace and Euseafood.com
The conference is ESSTO's first major event. Considerable effort will be made over the next three months to get the organisations website up and running and expand the membership. ESSTO is a not for profit organisation. The founding directors of the European Seafood Safety and Traceability Organisation are:
John Coleman, La Tene Maps and AquaTT (Ireland)
Crick Carleton, Nautilus Consultants Ltd (United Kingdom)
Margaret Eleftheriou, Institute of Marine Biology (Greece)
Alexandra Mendoca, Techninvest S.A. (Portugal)
Declan Connolly, Irishseafood.com (Ireland)
Further information on this conference, the European Seafood Safety and Traceability Organisation and its aims and objectives will be available on the organisations website www.essto.org
8. OceanologyInternational, London, UK16-19th March 2004
The Oceanology International (OI) conference 2004 will take pace from 16 to 19 March in London, UK. The event is intended to provide an informed discussion on the status of the global ocean science industry.
An international audience of policy makers, industrialists, government representatives, decision makers, researchers, directors and manufacturers will meet to address the present and future trends of the industry and to view the launch of new technologies, equipment and services.
The theme of this year's conference is 'strategies for stewardship of our oceans and costal zones' and sessions will cover topics such as:
- international ocean science and technology transfer;
- new technology approaches in polar oceanography;
- international costal zone management;
- marine research and development.
For further information, please consult the following web address:http://www.oceanologyinternational.com/
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