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EuroMiRC Advanced Studies Course
EuroMiRC Advanced Studies Course first edition
Applicants can submit their proposals from February 6th to February 15th, 2023
The European Advanced Studies Course on Microbial Resource Centres (EuroMiRC) aims to create a new generation of highly qualified professionals that will work in microbial Culture Collections (CC) or in the more advanced concept of Microbial Resource Centres (mBRCs).
General objectives of EuroMiRC
EuroMiRC intends to impact beyond the borders of CC/mBRCs by covering competencies required at different phases of the CC/mBRCs lifecycle. The EuroMiRC curricula program is designed to:
- integrate scienticompetenciesnces and management skills to access, preserve and supply microbial genetic resources and other related services;
- disseminate skills on management of Microbial Resources Centres under quality control standards and in compliance with the legal frameworks;
- appraise the valorization chain of the microbial diversity long-term preservation.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- explain the role of CC/mBRCs resources as an asset for the advancement of life sciences and biotechnology;
- describe the most frequent long-term microbial preservation methods;
- formulate strategies to implement a long-term microbial preservation plan;
- design operation strategies taking into consideration the long-term impact of quality control and risk assessment at CC/mBRC;
- implement strategies on CC/mBRC to fitness for the intended purpose under different legal, standards and regulatory requirements;
- recognize the different options to apply information technologies and data management tools to CC/mBRC.
Who should apply?
The EuroMiRC vision is to develop a new generation of CC/mBRCs professionals who recognize the necessity of undergoing advanced training to acquire state-of-the-art technical and managerial skills tailored to provide and perform better CC/mBRCs services to the user communities.
EuroMiRC is primarily aimed at:
- Doctoral students (3rd cycle);
- Post-doctoral researchers;
- and any professionals that want to acquire high-level international and management-oriented competencies in Microbial Resources Centres.
Course fees for the first edition can be waived under the IS_MIRRI21 project.
How will EuroMiRC function?
The course is hosted by the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal) and will take place in blended learning (b-learning) format between March 1st and July 14th, 2023.
To access detailed information on the course program and the application process, visit the page on IS MIRRI website: https://ismirri21.mirri.org/project-platforms/euromirc_edition_1/#jet-tabs-control-1132.
Project SUS-MIRRI.IT
Project SUS-MIRRI.IT funded by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan
Microbial biobanks in Italy launch a €17M project to strengthen their activities in line with the country’s participation in MIRRI-ERIC
Torino (Italy) and Braga (Portugal), 14 November 2022
The project “Strengthening the MIRRI Italian Research Infrastructure for Sustainable Bioscience and Bioeconomy” (SUS-MIRRI.IT) is launched today, in Torino (Italy), as part of the actions oriented towards Italy’s membership (the country is currently a prospective Member) of MIRRI-ERIC, the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure for the preservation, systematic investigation, provision and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity.
The project SUS-MIRRI.IT, funded by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan – PNRR, is granted by the European Commission’s NextGenerationEU programme with a total budget of about €17M. It is coordinated by the University of Torino and involves 14 other institutions: CNR, ENEA, OGS, the Universities of Cagliari, Genoa, Milano Bicocca, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Naples Federico II, Palermo, Perugia, Parma, Sassari, Verona and the University of Basilicata.
The general objective of SUS-MIRRI.IT is to implement the network of microbial biobanks distributed throughout Italy to increase the benefit that society can derive from the knowledge and valorisation of microbial biodiversity, which is a critical asset to face several of the greatest social, economic and environmental challenges that characterize our time. The specific goals of the project are: i) the implementation of infrastructures and quality management of microbial biobanks and related metadata; ii) the development of services and training courses for Academia and Bioindustry; iii) the creation of a national platform to promote the national catalogue of microorganisms and their metadata; and iv) provide access to available state-of-the-art technologies and services, making the infrastructure easily accessible to different types of users.
The project will be developed along 30 months, in close articulation with the work program of MIRRI-ERIC.
Giovanna Cristina Varese, the Coordinator of SUS-MIRRI.IT, said that “This project is a great chance for the Italian microbiological community. We will use the funds to raise the quality of Italian microbial biobanks to provide innovative services to the scientific and industrial community, thus fostering Bioscience and Bioeconomy in Italy and abroad”.
According to its Executive Director, Luís Soares, “MIRRI-ERIC congratulates our colleagues in Italy for having the SUS-MIRRI.IT project approved and for its launching, and we are really looking forward to welcome Italy as a full Member of MIRRI-ERIC in the very near future.”.
About MIRRI-ERIC
The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium (MIRRI-ERIC) is the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure for the preservation, systematic investigation, provision and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity. It brings together ~50 microbial domain Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs), culture collections and research institutes. MIRRI serves the bioscience and the bioindustry communities by facilitating the access, through a single point, to the broadest range of high-quality microorganisms, their derivatives, associated data and services, with a special focus on the domains of Health & Food, Agro-Food, and Environment & Energy.
More information and contacts:
www.mirri.org | https://www.linkedin.com/company/microbial-resource-research-infrastructure/ | info@mirri.org.
#MIRRI #microbialresources #microbialdiversity #Metadata Platform
MIRRI-IS Pairwise alignment movie
A new instruction movie showing how to use the pairwise alignment on the MIRRI-IS website has been made available.
See also the list of available instruction movies.
MIRRI-IT and the BY-COVID project
Members of MIRRI-IT integrate the BY-COVID consortium
Braga (Portugal) and Turin (Italy), 29 October 2021
It has been officially launched a new €12 million Horizon Europe funded project, BeYond-COVID (BY-COVID), which will tackle the data challenges that can hinder effective pandemic response. The core aim of the project is to ensure that data on SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious diseases can be found and used by everyone.
BY-COVID is an interdisciplinary project that unites life science, medical, policy, social science and public health experts from across Europe. Led by ELIXIR, the project has 53 partners from 20 European countries. It will run for three years and is part of the European Commission’s HERA Incubator plan “Anticipating together the threat of COVID-19 variants”.
MIRRI, the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure for the preservation, study, provision and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity, will take part in the project BY-COVID through the participation of three of the member organisations of its Italian node, MIRRI-IT, namely: Ospedale Policlinico San Martino (USMI), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), and Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna (IZSLER).
According to its Executive Director, Luís Soares, “MIRRI has a pivotal role to play on the response to microbialrelated emergencies, since we bring together a comprehensive set of resources, data, services and expertise, coming from our many partner organisations, which provide real added-value for researchers and companies working in the field of human and human-animal infectious diseases, or in the development of new diagnostic or therapeutic solutions”.
Paolo Romano, principal investigator of MIRRI-IT in the project, adds that “The contribution provided by MIRRI partners to BY-COVID, while relatively limited in person-month effort, is very relevant for the best results of the project. The contribution of the Ospedale Policlinico San Martino will bring important knowledge and expertise in the health domain, while the other MIRRI-IT partners will provide a unique expertise in the domain of veterinary health and especially in infective diseases of zoonotic origin”.
The project BY-COVID, in a nutshell
BY-COVID will build and expand upon the successful COVID-19 Data Platform, a resource initiated in the early stages of the pandemic and led by EMBL-EBI. Since its launch, many countries have established their own national data hubs, which ensures that data produced locally can be instantaneously connected and shared with the main COVID-19 Data Portal. Rather than focus purely on providing technical solutions to the biological data, BY-COVID will work with partners such as the Versatile emerging infectious disease Observatory (VEO) and the Public Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) to incorporate data from a broader range of disciplines, including public health and social sciences.
The BY-COVID project strives to simplify data access and reuse through four key pillars:
- Mobilise data – ensuring raw sequencing data from across the world can be easily submitted to core data hubs.
- Connect data – build the technical capacity to allow linking of sequence data and metadata, expanding beyond scientific and medical data to broader metadata from, for example, public health and economics, and support integration to the COVID-19 Data Portal.
- Standardise data – provide recommended data management protocols to encourage Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data standards and interoperability among resources.
- Expose and analyse data – support exposure and analysis of FAIR data on infectious diseases such as the regular VEO reports on mutations and variation in publicly shared SARS-CoV-2 data and the open COVID-19 Galaxy analysis platform.
For more information, visit the BY-COVID website at by-covid.org.
About MIRRI:
The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) is the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure for the preservation, systematic investigation, provision and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity. It brings together 50+ microbial domain Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs), culture collections and research institutes from ten European countries and one associated country, namely: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (headquarters), Romania, Russia and Spain.
MIRRI serves the bioscience and the bioindustry communities by facilitating the access, through a single point, to the broadest range of high-quality microorganisms, their derivatives, associated data and services, with a special focus on the domains of Health & Food, Agro-Food, and Environment & Energy. By serving its users, by collaborating with other research infrastructures and by working with public authorities and policy makers, MIRRI contributes to the advancement of research and innovation in life sciences and biotechnology, as well as for a sustainable, competitive and resilient bioeconomy.
More information and contacts: mirri.org | linkedin.com/company/microbial-resource-researchinfrastructure/ | info@mirri.org.
About MIRRI-IT:
The Joint Research Unit MIRRI-IT is aimed at the implementation of the Italian node of MIRRI and at the development of the Italian network of collections of microbial resources. Its mission is to overcome fragmentation in availability of resources and services, enhancing the quality management system of the collections, while focusing on needs and challenges of the stakeholders interested in the biotechnological transfer of these resources. MIRRI-IT currently incudes five partners and 18 associated partners from Universities, Public Research Institutes and Hospitals. Partners are active in many domains of interest for microbial resources, including food and nutrition, agriculture, forestry and environment, as well as human and animal health.
For more information see mirri-it.it or get in touch by email with info@mirri-it.it.
BY-COVID is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101046203.
Supporting biodiversity and ecosystem protection across land and sea – Open Call
2021-2022 Joint Call
“Supporting the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems
across land and sea”
CALL PRIORITIES
THEME 1: Knowledge for identifying priority conservation areas, establishing effective and resilient ecological networks, enhancing species-based protection and preserving genetic diversity
THEME 2: Multiple benefits and costs of biodiversity and ecosystem protection: synergies and trade-offs
THEME 3: Effective management and equitable governance to deliver bold conservation outcome
The call covers all environments, i.e. terrestrial, freshwater and marine. It also covers research on biodiversity conservation in the Outermost Regions (ORs) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) of the EU.
CALL SCHEDULE
A two-step process will apply, with a mandatory submission of pre-proposals at the first step and submission of full proposals at the second step.
- Deadline for pre-proposals submission (mandatory): Tuesday 30 November 2021, 15:00 CET (local time in Brussels)
- Deadline for full-proposals submission: Thursday 14 April 2022, 15:00 CEST (local time in Brussels)
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information, see the Open Call web site at https://www.biodiversa.org/1772
For general information on the call, contact the Call Secretariat: biodiversa.cs@agencerecherche.fr (Juliette Bettus, Céline Billière and Sophie Germann)
IT Officer position for MIRRI
IT officer position available at the Spanish Type Culture Collection – University of Valencia (CECT-UV), UV Science Park, Catedràtic Agustín Escardino Benlloch, 9, Paterna, Valencia.
Gross salary 38.000 €
The contract will be bounded to the project IS_MIRRI21, funded by Horizon 2020, to implement the Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI).
Official call and procedure to apply: Soon available.
For contact information see below.
Estimated commencement date and duration: From November 2021 to February 2023. Prolongation possible subject to the availability of funds and extension of the project.
REQUIREMENTS
Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field. Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Biotechnology or a related field.
PROFILE OF THE WORKING POSITION
IT officer specialized in programming and database management.
QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS
- Experience in web development tools (jQuery, Vue.js, Agilent, BootStrap, etc.)
- Experience in web programming languages (php, Python, javascript, typescript, etc.)
- Knowledge of cloud services PaaS and SaaS
- Experience in relational (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) and non-relational (MongoDB, etc.) database management systems
- Working experience in Internationally Distributed Research Infrastructures in particular, or at least in Research Infrastructures in general
- Participation in research projects related with biodiversity (preferably) or with Life Sciences (in general) would be an asset
- Proficiency in English (oral and written)
TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage the MIRRI applications generated within the project
- Manage users according to specifications to ensure access and availability of the system resources
- Give IT support to MIRRI’s Central Coordinating Unit
- Contribute to the design of an interoperable virtual platform providing the MIRRI service offer, ensuring data privacy and security, in collaboration with the Center for Computer Graphics (CCG) based in Braga (Portugal)
- Contribute, together with CCG, in the development of a MIRRI virtual platform to compile, prepare, enrich, store and process a large amount of heterogeneous data (different sources and formats), allowing access to data services related to biological material (MIRRI-IS)
- Contribute, together with the MIRRI ICT team, to export the catalogue data of MIRRI Culture Collection partners to be incorporated into the MIRRI-IS database
- Act as a link of MIRRI-IS with CECT-UV, CCG and LifeWatch (Spain)
- Participate in the project’s tasks (assistance to meetings, elaboration of reports, etc.)
- Willingness to travel to different European cities, mainly to Braga
CONTACT: jmlopez@cect.org
Symposium on Appreciation and Conservation of Microbial Resources
MIRRI and IS_MIRRI21 will be presented by Dr. Aurora Zuzuarregui from UVEG-CECT on September 8, 2021, at 15:50 CET, at the Chilean III Symposium on Appreciation and Conservation of Microbial Resources.
The agenda can be found at: https://www.cchrgm.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Programa_III_SIMP_VAL.pdf
Free registration is still open. See here.
We kindly ask you to please share this announce with your colleagues who might be interested in participating.
IS_MIRRI21 Newsletter #3 is out!
The IS_MIRRI21 Newsletter #3 has been issued.
Here are some of its highlights:
- MIRRI receives a delegation from the European Council
- Four researchers awarded with funded access to MIRRI/IS_MIRRI21 facilities in 2021
- The Joint Research Unit MIRRI-IT: status and undergoing activities
- IS_MIRRI21 and MIRRI’s participation in future events
- Successful launch of IS_MIRRI21/MIRRI two matchmaking events
- IS_MIRRI21 partners organize a public event for the World Microbiome Day 2021!
- MIRRI launched its online platform at www.mirri.org
Register today and start receiving your copy of the IS_MIRRI21 Newsletters by email.
IS_MIRRI21 Newsletters intend to present the project to its wide-ranging target audiences and inform them about the relevant activities within the project and the achievements that the consortium expects to go in the direction of MIRRI’s stakeholders’ interests and aspirations.
IS_MIRRI21 challenges the users to communicate with it to continue strengthening the MIRRI community as never before and visit its website and social media to stay updated on IS_MIRRI21’s activities.
See all IS_MIRRI21 Newsletters here.
Up to today, three issues have been delivered and you can reach them singularly:
Newsletter #1
Newsletter #2
Newsletter #3
IT officer position for MIRRI
IT officer position available at the Spanish Type Culture Collection – University of Valencia (CECT-UV), UV Science Park, Valencia.
The contract will be bounded to the project IS_MIRRI21, funded by Horizon 2020, to implement the Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI)
Estimated duration: from October 2021 to February 2023. Prolongation possible subject to the availability of funds and extension of the project. Gross salary 38,000 € / year.
REQUIREMENTS
Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Biotechnology or a related field.
Official call and procedure to apply: https://links.uv.es/cect2/IT_Officer
See details in the official announcement leaflet.
CONTACT: jmlopez@cect.org
Webinar "Microorganisms are allies"
The one-hour webinar will be presented by partners and experts from the IS_MIRRI21 project with background in microbiology and biotechnology who will convey the messages based on their field and professional experiences. The event will be a combination of presentations, quizzes and videos with dedicated sessions for the audiences to ask questions and interact with the speaker.
The key objectives of the event are:
- Present how EU funded projects such as IS_MIRRI21 are supporting the research and innovation ecosystem;
- Give an overall overview of how culture collections are used to preserve biodiversity and the roles of microbes in the sustainability of the environment;
- Discuss how microorganisms can be used by each and every citizen to create a sustainable world.
Agenda
| 11:00 | Welcome and introduction to speakers Tedora Aibu (SPI) |
| 11:05 | Demo session: Microbiome and Microorganisms for a Sustainable World Anna Poli (UNITO) |
| 11:20 | Let’s play: Quiz on microbial biodiversity and sustainability Giulia Cheloni (INRAE), Anna Poli (UNITO), Tedora Aibu (SPI) |
| 11:30 | Who we are and what we do in IS_MIRRI21/MIRRI Tedora Aibu (SPI) |
| 11:35 | Culture collections and their role in microbial biodiversity preservation and exploration Giulia Cheloni (INRAE) |
| 11:45 | Open floor: Q&A |
| 11:55 | Closing |
Contact us
For any additional information, please contact us at Franciscorocha@spi.pt and tedoraaibu@spi.pt.