As part of the Science and Technology Week SEAT project coordinator David Little of Stirling University and SEAT project partner Liping Liu of Shanghai Ocean University were invited to take part in the event ‘Feeding cities and citizens with sustainable and safe food: EU and China join forces on food research cooperation’.  The primary focus of the event was joint research efforts between the EU and China towards sustainable food production and consumption.

David Little had the opportunity to introduce the SEAT project to an invited audience and the session provided the chance for representatives from both China and the EU to discuss common challenges being faced in the food sector.  Other speakers were present to introduce similar projects looking into collaborative research activities being supported by the EU and involving Chinese participation.

Further information on the Shanghai Expo and EU-China Science week.  Further details regarding the SEAT-related session.

A number of students involved with the SEAT project had the opportunity to showcase their work at this very well attended research conference.  Six SEAT-related students had posters at the event, two of which were shortlisted for prises by a judging panel.

The posters provided an opportunity to highlight the work of SEAT to a winder audience, including academic research staff and industry representatives from throughout the UK.  For more information about the IoA and photos from the conference please see http://www.aqua.stir.ac.uk/research-conference/2010/

The Europe Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC): Science and Technology for Environmental Protection was held in Seville, Spain, between the 23-27th of May, 2010. The meeting was attended by more than 2500 participants and speakers from governments, industry and academia working in the field of environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, risk assessment and product life cycle assessment.

The SEAT project and research objectives of Work Package 7 (Contamination Risks) and Work Package 3 (Life Cycle Assessment) were introduced in two poster presentations. Members of the SETAC community appeared to be concerned about the rapid expansion of the aquaculture production in Asia and its potential environmental consequences. The presentations resulted in fruitful discussions about the need to assess the environmental impacts of different aquaculture practices and the need to develop new scientific methodologies in support to the environmentally sustainable development of the Asian aquaculture sector. For further information download the posters and visit the Work Package 7 and Work Package 3 pages.

SETAC Poster 1 | SETAC Poster 2

SEAT was there to present its views on how aquaculture can be developed into a sustainable net addition to the global food pool. Representing were Jeroen Guinee, Rene Kleijn and Patrik Henriksson from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden, Netherlands, who is co-ordinating work package 3 of the SEAT project (Life Cycle Assessment). Apart from taking part of the discussion, Patrik Henriksson presented a short introduction into the world of aquaculture production and trade, as well as into the SEAT project. The conference was held at Egmond aan Zee between the 9th and 11th of June 2010.

View the SEAT presentation
Visit the conference website

The fair provides an excellent opportunity to meet with a large number of value chain stakeholders, making contacts for future research and supplementing current knowledge of seafood value chains. This year, the fair was attended by three members of the SEAT project who were able to meet with exporters, importers, buyers, consultancies, industry representatives, processing companies, NGOs and a number of other attendees.

The visit allowed the opportunity to clarify information relating to global value chains following on from recent visits with stakeholders in Asia, particularly those from the logistics part of the value chain. It also allowed the chance to gauge interest from SMEs relating to the action research element of the SEAT project, WP9.

The only difficulty with the expo proved to be engaging with buyers, as they were mostly present as visitors. Some contacts were made; however, other methods will be used to engage buyers at different times in the SEAT project.

The ESE included representation from all four of the Asian countries involved in the SEAT project, however Bangladesh only had a presence from the Chamber of Commerce. The most notable presence at the Expo was from China with some 134 companies, up from 97 in 2008. The table below shows how representation has increased in just 2 years from the Asian member countries.

*Chamber of Commerce representation

The fair was also followed by a visit to Billingsgate Fish Market and ethnic importers in London by two members of the SEAT project.

More information on the European Seafood Exposition.

• Aquaculture and Sustainability
• Aquaculture and Climate Change
• Biotechnology in fish production
• Organic Aquaculture
• Ethics and Science.
• The future of food culture

The course will include sessions with group work, discussions, case exercises and dissertation presentations.
Course lecturers: Matthias Kaiser; Mickey Gjerris; Ingrid Olesen; Anne Myhr; Arne Sveinson Haugen
The deadline for registration is June 15th 2010. For more information please see attached advertisement.
Invitation Vilnius 2010

The presence at the meeting was used to present the project and discuss opportunities for cooperation between SEAT at the World’s largest business support network. For further information on Enterprise Europe Network please see www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu and for a copy of the presentation given please see the presentation pages’

DIIS presentation – European Seafood Expo May 2010

The UK Research Office is running a free event next week (Tuesday 18^thMay) at Glasgow Caledonian University to promote and provide guidance on the European Commission’s FP7 Marie Curie individual fellowships and grant schemes. The session will also provide those wishing to submit an application with a deeper understanding of the proposal format and the key issues they are required to address in planning and writing their proposal. Register here.

But if you can’t make the event (given the short notice that is quite likely!) and you are keen to find out more about these funding schemes, see more info below.

A key feature of all these Marie Curie schemes is the bottom up approach (i.e. any research field can be funded) along with the ‘mobility’ requirement as it’s about sharing knowledge/expertise, so all fellows funded under the programme will be expected to undertake a move from one country to another, subject to specific requirements for the different schemes. A fellow gets a salary and research related expenses, and a hosting department will get a contribution to overheads and management costs.

The following Marie Curie schemes currently have open calls:-

a) Marie Curie Individual Fellowships for Career Development (Intra-European (IEF) – deadline 17 Aug 2010) – This activity would suit experienced researchers (having at least four years of full-time research experience or a PhD at the time of the deadline)of any nationality who want to do a 12-24 month research project at the University of Stirling, the aim being career development and greater independence as a researcher. Prospective fellows must come from a base in another European country, or not have spent more than 12 months working or studying in the UK in the past 3 years, so researchers from a base in Europe but who are already working at Stirling (provided they only arrived at Stirling during or after September 2009) would also be eligible to apply.

b) International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) – deadline 17 Aug 2010) – The career development of experienced researchers (having at least four years of full-time research experience or a PhD at the time of the deadline) of European nationality will be supported through this scheme which comprises a research fellowship outside Europe of 2 to 3 years but with mandatory return to place of origin for 12 months. Prospective fellows must not have spent more than 12 months working or studying in the proposed host institution in the past 3 years, so researchers from Stirling who are already working at the proposed host (provided they only arrived there during or after September 2009) would also be eligible to apply provided they do aim to return to Stirling.

c) International Incoming Fellowships (IIF) – deadline 17 Aug 2010) – to attract highly qualified experienced researchers (having at least four years of full-time research experience or a PhD at the time of the deadline) of any nationality to Europe from third countries (any country not a member of the EU) for a period of 12 to 24 months with a possible return phase for 12 months. Prospective fellows must come from a base in another non European country, or not have spent more than 12 months working or studying in the UK in the past 3 years, so researchers who have come from outside Europe but who are already working at Stirling (provided they only arrived at Stirling during or after September 2009) would also be eligible to apply.

d) Reintegration Grants (European (ERG) and International (IRG) – deadline 7 Sept 2010) – for experienced researchers who have already benefited from specific Marie Curie fellowships and who are wanting to return to their country of origin for up to 3 years.

View further information on these funding calls (click on Guide for Applicants under each call). If you are interested in applying or know a researcher who might fit the criteria hosted by Stirling, get in touch with me and I’ll come and have a chat with you to check the fit to the scheme.

A special session was held this year relating to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainability in Aquaculture, hosted by N. Pelletier, P. Tyedmers and J. Colt. The session covered talks on LCA methodology, LCA of salmon production, sustainable sourcing of farmed fish and tilapia farming. Patrik Henriksson, a SEAT partner from the University of Leiden, introduced the SEAT project and gave a presentation on “Energy Intensity in Tropical Aquaculture”. The session was well received and resulted in positive discussions between several well respected LCA practitioners relating to aquaculture production the future development of LCA in aquaculture.

Following a week of fruitful discussions between Dalhousie University, ENRA and the SEAT project team, foundations have hopefully been set for future collaborations and the development of LCA of farmed aquatic products.

For more information on LCA in aquaculture please see the Work Package 3 pages and for more information on work being undertaken at Leiden University see their page on the SEAT website.