Project Announces Free Aquaculture Genomics Training Opportunities
AQUAEXCEL aims to integrate key aquaculture research infrastructures across Europe in order to promote their coordinated use and development. AQUAEXCEL also organises pioneering new technical training courses that focus on different aspects of aquaculture experimentation. These courses are unique in putting emerging aquaculture infrastructure centres of excellence at the forefront. They also present a valuable opportunity for researchers and technicians in this field to further their experience.
Contribution of Genomic Approaches to the Development of Sustainable Aquaculture for Temperate and Mediterranean Fish will focus on the recent developments in aquaculture genomics research which will support innovation in trout, bass, bream, turbot, and carp aquaculture. It will cover two major areas where genomic tools and studies can be of benefit for aquaculture: genomic research for developing new tools for refined phenotyping and genomic research for characterisation of genetic architecture of important traits which will be applied in selective breeding programmes.
The course is aimed at aquaculture researchers and technicians from continental European and Mediterranean countries involved in rainbow trout, sea bass, sea bream, and carp research. The courses are designed to be accessible for early stage researchers or senior researchers who have only basic knowledge in the field of genomics.
Course attendance is free, thanks to EC FP7 funding. Participants are expected to pay for their own travel, subsistence and accommodation. Participants are requested to submit their CV and a brief letter outlining their motivation for wanting to attend the course. For more information and online registration, please visit www.aquaexcel.eu/training_courses.
The previous AQUAEXCEL course, which focused on Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) Technology and was provided by Wageningen University (WU) with expertise from the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fishery and Aquaculture (Nofima), l’Institut Francais de Recherche Pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) and the Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES), was very successful and oversubscribed. Two further courses are scheduled to be organised by AQUAEXCEL: The Application of Chromosome Set Manipulations and the Importance of Gamete Collection and Management in Aquaculture, which will be provided by the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, on 18-22 November 2013, and Efficient Utilisation of New Monitoring and Control Systems in Fish Experiments, provided by The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF Sealab, on 19-22 May 2014. Registration for both these courses is not yet open.
Notes for editors
The AQUAEXCEL project will run until February 2015 with an overall budget of €11.8 million. The project will receive a total of €9.2 million of EU funding under the ‘Research Infrastructures' area of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), reflecting the EU’s interest in prioritising aquaculture and boosting the aquaculture sector by promoting research for competitiveness and environmental sustainability.
AQUAEXCEL is coordinated by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France, which leads a partnership of 16 institutions from Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the UK.
For press queries, please contact: Marieke Reuver, Programme Manager, AquaTT, Dublin, Ireland. Email: marieke@aquatt.ie
For more information, please visit: www.aquaexcel.eu