Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VET-TWIN (Strengthening of scientific excellence of the National Veterinary Research Institute in animal health and food chain safety)
Período documentado: 2017-04-01 hasta 2018-12-31
All specific objectives defined for the VET-TWIN project have been reached:
1. Enhancing the potential and capacities of NVRI in terms of international scientific cooperation by establishing strategic and operational framework for cooperation and creating future partnerships with the institutions involved in the implementation of the VET-TWIN project – a “Joint Strategy of Cooperation and Development” has been created and it will be the basis for common future scientific activities. Currently a big project under ERA-NET is discussed with partners. For more frequent scientific cooperations with partners, national reference laboratories in all three institutes will be involved.
2. Improving skills and better exchange of knowledge between scientists in the field of new research methods and tools in selected research areas – scientists from NVRI were able to get acquainted with new diagnostic techniques during trainings organized by Partners. This training activity was significantly enhanced when the new Laboratory for Omics Analysis was established in Pulawy in 2017. It was equipped with modern diagnostic equipment including Whole Genome Sequencing machine and MALDI-TOF. Majority of cascade trainings organized in NVRI, Pulawy included the use of the new techniques on these machines.
3. Increasing scientific activity of young scientists involved in the development of the VET-TWIN partnership – summer/winter schools and congress for young scientists organized in NVRI, as well as internships in DTU and BFR, were dedicated for this group of researchers.
4. Improving the scientific role and international image of NVRI and its partners as leaders of the selected research areas and supporting them in building the expert background in the field of infectious animal diseases, zoonotic diseases and the safety of food supply chains – participation in international scientific conferences made NVRI research more visible.
VET-TWIN project intended to strengthen a defined common field of research of advanced veterinary sciences on the characterization of animal pathogens and food safety capacity of the linked institutions and the support to raise staff’s research profile as well as the excellence of the institutions involved. All those objectives have been reached.
- fifteen trainings for 26 NVRI scientists were organized by partner institutions;
- nine on-site trainings/workshops in Coordinator’s premises;
- four summer/winter schools in Coordinator’s premises;
- eight short term missions for NVRI scientists in partner institutions;
- representatives of NVRI participated in seven international scientific conferences to promote VET-TWIN project;
- web-page about the project with the link to e-Platform was created.
Cascade trainings were the essence of work package 4 (Trainings) and one of key elements of the whole project. First on-spot workshop was on “Evaluation of gene expression using high-throughput PCR”. In 2017 two on-spot workshops for 34 participants from NVRI were organised. The topics included multiplex serology and next generation sequencing. Workshops in 2018 included biotyping based on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and characterisation of antimicrobial resistance using qPCR. In 2018 three on-site workshop were realized. Two further workshops were related to high throughput sequencing. Another important set of actions within VET-TWIN project was included in WP5 which was focusing on career development of young scientists. The first winter school focused on emerging and re-emerging zoonotic threats in food. The second school was dedicated to emerging infectious animal diseases and genomics. The third school was dedicated to risk assessment related to chemical hazards. And the 4th seasonal school addressed issues related to project preparation and publications, bibliometry, dissemination of research results and mobility of young scientists. Another event was the Congress for Young Scientists held in Pulawy in 2017. During the Congress 16 oral presentations and 20 posters were presented. During the course of the project 8 young scientists from NVRI visited partners within short term scientific missions. In summary, WP5 provided many opportunities for young researchers to gain the latest and modern knowledge within veterinary medicine domain and also to get acquainted with new diagnostic and research techniques. The most important WP from the perspective of future research policy of NVRI was covered by WP2 (Definition of a joint strategic road map and a joint strategy of cooperation and development for building S&T capacity). One of the main tasks within this WP was the preparation of the Joint Strategy of Cooperation and Development (D2.4). It covered future partnership with BfR and DTU, after project completion, until 2030. It is based on experience and conclusions from analyses performed as part of the project.